NVD / CVE Program· CNA apache

CVE-2026-33929: Apache PDFBox Examples: Path Traversal in PDFBox ExtractEmbeddedFiles Example Code

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 17/100)

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: 0.71% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 53.5% of all records.
Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
Fixed version: org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox-examples (Maven) 2.0.37, 3.0.8; apache-pdfbox (openSUSE:Leap 16.0) 2.0.36-160000.1.1; apache-pdfbox (openSUSE:Tumbleweed) 2.0.36-1.1.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox-examples (Maven) 2.0.37, 3.0.8; apache-pdfbox (openSUSE:Leap 16.0) 2.0.36-160000.1.1; apache-pdfbox (openSUSE:Tumbleweed) 2.0.36-1.1 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

Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in Apache PDFBox Examples. This issue affects the ExtractEmbeddedFiles example in Apache PDFBox: from 2.0.24 through 2.0.36, from 3.0.0 through 3.0.7. Users are recommended to update to version 2.0.37 or 3.0.8 once available. Until then, they should apply the fix provided in GitHub PR 427. The ExtractEmbeddedFiles example contained a path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) mentioned in CVE-2026-23907. However the change in the releases 2.0.36 and 3.0.7 is flawed because it doesn't consider the file path separator. Because of that, a user having writing rights on /home/ABC could be victim to a malicious PDF resulting in a write attempt to any path starting with /home/ABC, e.g. "/home/ABCDEF". Users who have copied this example into their production code should apply the mentioned change. The example has been changed accordingly and is available in the project repository.

MediumCVSS 4.3 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available

Path traversal

Published: Apr 14, 2026
Updated: Oct 26, 2026
EPSS: 0.7% · 53th percentile
CWE: CWE-22

Report tools

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Action score

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS: 17 / 40 · 4.3 / 10
CISA KEV: 0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS: 0 / 30 · 0.7%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation: none
Automatable: no
Technical impact: partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

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

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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.

Vendor	Product	CPE
apache	pdfbox	cpe:2.3:a:apache:pdfbox

Affected versions

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

apache pdfbox2.0.24 and later · before 2.0.37
apache pdfbox3.0.0 and later · before 3.0.8

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (apache). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

Apache Software Foundation Apache PDFBox Examples
- 2.0.24 and later · up to and including 2.0.36affected · semver
- 3.0.0 and later · up to and including 3.0.7affected · semver

Package-level exposure

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

Ecosystem	Package	Affected range	Fix
Debian:12	libpdfbox-java	from 0	—
Debian:12	libpdfbox2-java	from 0	—
Maven	org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox-examples	from 2.0.24 · before 2.0.37	2.0.37
Maven	org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox-examples	from 3.0.0 · before 3.0.8	3.0.8
openSUSE:Leap 16.0	apache-pdfbox	before 2.0.36-160000.1.1	2.0.36-160000.1.1
openSUSE:Tumbleweed	apache-pdfbox	before 2.0.36-1.1	2.0.36-1.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 16.0	apache-pdfbox	before 2.0.36-160000.1.1	2.0.36-160000.1.1

Same product

apache: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

CVE-2019-0228Apache PDFBox 2.0.14 does not properly initialize the XML parser, which allows context-dependent attackers to conduct XML External Entity (X
42Plan
CVE-2016-2175Apache PDFBox before 1.8.12 and 2.x before 2.0.1 does not properly initialize the XML parsers, which allows context-dependent attackers to c
32Monitor
CVE-2018-8036In Apache PDFBox 1.8.0 to 1.8.14 and 2.0.0RC1 to 2.0.10, a carefully crafted (or fuzzed) file can trigger an infinite loop which leads to an
27Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

← EarlierCVE-2021-27906Mar 19, 2021 · A carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an OutOfMemory-Exception while loading the file
23Monitor
← EarlierCVE-2021-31811Jun 12, 2021 · A carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an OutOfMemory-Exception while loading a tiny file
23Monitor
← EarlierCVE-2021-31812Jun 12, 2021 · A carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an infinite loop while loading the file
23Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

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

Product / package	Fixed version	Source
Maven:org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox-examples	2.0.37	Package registry (OSV)
Maven:org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox-examples	3.0.8	Package registry (OSV)
opensuse:apache-pdfbox	2.0.36-1.1 · openSUSE:Tumbleweed	Package registry (OSV)
suse:apache-pdfbox	2.0.36-160000.1.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 16.0	Package 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.

apache/pdfboxPR 427

Credits

All researchers

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

Kaixuan LiNanyang Technological Universityfinder

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.
A low-privileged account is enough.
No user action is required.
No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality: none
Integrity: low · data or configuration can be modified
Availability: none

Attack vector: Network
Attack complexity: Low
Privileges required: Low
User interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality impact: None
Integrity impact: Low
Availability impact: None

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

CVSS vector

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

nvd-secondary

Root cause

A user-supplied file name is joined with the allowed directory, but the result is never checked to confirm it is still inside that directory.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-22 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

1const file = path.join(ROOT, req.query.name);
2res.sendFile(file);

Fixed

1const file = path.resolve(ROOT, req.query.name);
2if (!file.startsWith(ROOT + path.sep)) {
3  return res.sendStatus(400);
4}
5res.sendFile(file);

Attack context

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

Attack patterns (CAPEC)

ATT&CK techniques

—

Change log

Fix✗ → ✓Sep 28, 2026, 10:48 PM UTC

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

github.com/apache/pdfbox/pull/427/changes

Show all references (2 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

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