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NVD / CVE Program· CNA mitre

CVE-2022-34503: QPDF v8.4.2 was discovered to contain a heap buffer overflow via the function QPDF::processXRefStream.

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 26/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.78% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 55.9% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. A user must open a link or visit a page. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: qpdf (Debian:12) 9.0.0-1; qpdf (openSUSE:Leap 15.3) 8.0.2-150000.3.5.1; qpdf (SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15-ESPOS) 8.0.2-150000.3.5.1.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to qpdf (Debian:12) 9.0.0-1; qpdf (openSUSE:Leap 15.3) 8.0.2-150000.3.5.1; qpdf (SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15-ESPOS) 8.0.2-150000.3.5.1 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

QPDF v8.4.2 was discovered to contain a heap buffer overflow via the function QPDF::processXRefStream. This vulnerability allows attackers to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) via a crafted PDF file.

MediumCVSS 6.5 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
Jul 22, 2022
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
0.7% · 55th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

26

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
26 / 40 · 6.5 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.7%

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

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When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
qpdf projectqpdf

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • qpdf project qpdf8.4.2

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:12qpdfbefore 9.0.0-19.0.0-1
openSUSE:Leap 15.3qpdfbefore 8.0.2-150000.3.5.18.0.2-150000.3.5.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15-ESPOSqpdfbefore 8.0.2-150000.3.5.18.0.2-150000.3.5.1
SUSE:OpenStack Cloud 9qpdfbefore 7.1.1-3.8.17.1.1-3.8.1

Same product

qpdf project: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2018-9918libqpdf.a in QPDF through 8.0.2 mishandles certain "expected dictionary key but found non-name object" cases, allowing remote attackers to c
    32Monitor
  • CVE-2017-12595The tokenizer in QPDF 6.0.0 and 7.0.b1 is recursive for arrays and dictionaries, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service
    32Monitor
  • CVE-2024-24246Heap Buffer Overflow vulnerability in qpdf 11.9.0 allows attackers to crash the application via the std::__shared_count() function at /bits/
    22Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2018-18020Oct 6, 2018 · In QPDF 8.2.1, in libqpdf/QPDFWriter.cc, QPDFWriter::unparseObject and QPDFWriter::unparseChild have recursive calls for a long time, which
    13Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2021-36978Jul 20, 2021 · QPDF 9.x through 9.1.1 and 10.x through 10.0.4 has a heap-based buffer overflow in Pl_ASCII85Decoder::write (called from Pl_AES_PDF::flush a
    22Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2021-25786Aug 11, 2023 · An issue was discovered in QPDF version 10.0.4, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted .pdf file to Pl_ASCII85Decoder
    21Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
debian:qpdf9.0.0-1 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)
opensuse:qpdf8.0.2-150000.3.5.1 · openSUSE:Leap 15.3Package registry (OSV)
suse:qpdf7.1.1-3.8.1 · SUSE:OpenStack Cloud 9Package registry (OSV)
suse:qpdf8.0.2-150000.3.5.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15-ESPOSPackage registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • A user must open a link or visit a page.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
none
Integrity
none
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
None
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-787 · Out-of-bounds Write

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

nvd-primary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

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