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CVE Record

CVE-2018-19532: A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability exists in the function PdfTranslator::setTarget() in pdftranslator...

A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability exists in the function PdfTranslator::setTarget() in pdftranslator.cpp of PoDoFo 0.9.6, while creating the PdfXObject, as demonstrated by podofoimpose. It allows an attacker to cause Denial of Service.

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2018-19532 is a denial-of-service issue in PoDoFo 0.9.6. A specially crafted PDF reaching affected PoDoFo PDF processing, demonstrated with podofoimpose, can crash the process through a NULL pointer dereference. The business impact is service interruption, not data theft or code execution based on the supplied sources.

Executive priority

Treat as a targeted availability risk. Prioritize if customer-facing or partner-facing PDF uploads feed PoDoFo 0.9.6. It is less urgent than remotely exploitable code execution, but crashes in document pipelines can still disrupt operations.

Technical view

The flaw is a NULL pointer dereference in PdfTranslator::setTarget() in pdftranslator.cpp while creating a PdfXObject. The supplied description ties it to PoDoFo 0.9.6 and demonstrates impact through podofoimpose. No CVSS vector, CWE, patch version, or broader affected-version range is provided in the bundle.

Likely exposure

Exposure is most likely where PoDoFo 0.9.6 or tools built on it process untrusted PDFs, especially automated conversion, imposition, upload, or document-processing services. Systems using PoDoFo only for trusted internal files have lower practical exposure.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not show KEV listing or active exploitation. A realistic scenario is an attacker submitting a malformed PDF to an application or workflow that invokes affected PoDoFo processing, causing a crash and service disruption.

Researcher notes

The evidence is narrow: PoDoFo 0.9.6, PdfTranslator::setTarget(), PdfXObject creation, and podofoimpose demonstration. The bundle does not provide exploit maturity, patch commit, CVSS scoring, or complete version range. Avoid extrapolating impact beyond denial of service.

Mitigation direction

  • Inventory PoDoFo and podofoimpose usage across applications and build images.
  • Check PoDoFo vendor or project guidance for fixed releases or recommended remediation.
  • Avoid processing untrusted PDFs with PoDoFo 0.9.6 until remediated.
  • Isolate PDF processing workers and apply restart supervision and resource limits.
  • Restrict upload paths and document-processing access where business workflows allow.

Validation and detection

  • Confirm whether PoDoFo 0.9.6 is present in deployed packages or containers.
  • Identify routes, jobs, or services that pass user-supplied PDFs into PoDoFo.
  • Review crash logs for failures involving PdfTranslator::setTarget or podofoimpose.
  • Verify remediation against a controlled regression test in non-production.
  • Confirm monitoring alerts on repeated PDF-processing crashes.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
4

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Unknown
CVSS
Not scored
Known Exploited
No
Published
Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

0CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
3Source links

CVSS and timeline data

No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
n/an/an/aListed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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