CVE-2009-3603

Exp

Integer overflow in the SplashBitmap::SplashBitmap function in Xpdf 3.x before 3.02pl4 and Poppler before 0.12.1 might allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted PDF document that triggers a heap-based buffer overflow. NOTE: some of these details are obtained from third party information. NOTE: this issue reportedly exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2009-1188.

Published: 2009-10-21 Last update: 2026-04-23 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2009-3603 is rated High Exploit Risk (87.5/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 8.58%, 94th percentile). Core evidence: 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). EPSS rose +2.31% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Mandatory action: Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2009-3603

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2009-3603

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 6.28% 8.58% +2.31%
2 2025-03-30 9.70% 6.28% -3.43%
3 2025-03-29 9.70%

Full EPSS history (13 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2009-3603

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.3 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
8.6 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2009-3603

OS Trackers for CVE-2009-3603

vendor priority summary link
debian medium CVE-2009-3603 medium priority: Debian including 2 source packages (poppler, xpdf), 10 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 10. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2009-3603
gentoo normal CVE-2009-3603: 1 GLSA(s) (201310-03), 1 atom(s) (app-text/poppler); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2009-3603
redhat high https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2009-3603
ubuntu medium CVE-2009-3603 medium priority: Ubuntu including 11 source packages (gpdf, ipe, …), 418 status rows across 38 suites (artful, bionic, cosmic, dapper, disco, eoan, focal, groovy, hardy, hirsute, impish, intrepid, jammy, jaunty, karmic, kinetic, lucid, lunar, mantic, maverick, natty, noble, oneiric, oracular, plucky, precise, quantal, questing, raring, saucy, trusty, upstream, utopic, vivid, wily, xenial, yakkety, zesty): … (5 distinct statuses). https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2009-3603

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2009-3603

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
foolabs xpdf 3.02pl1 cpe:2.3:a:foolabs:xpdf:3.02pl1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
foolabs xpdf 3.02pl2 cpe:2.3:a:foolabs:xpdf:3.02pl2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
foolabs xpdf 3.02pl3 cpe:2.3:a:foolabs:xpdf:3.02pl3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
glyphandcog xpdfreader 3.00 cpe:2.3:a:glyphandcog:xpdfreader:3.00:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
glyphandcog xpdfreader 3.01 cpe:2.3:a:glyphandcog:xpdfreader:3.01:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
glyphandcog xpdfreader 3.02 cpe:2.3:a:glyphandcog:xpdfreader:3.02:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler <= 0.12.0 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.1 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.1.1 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.1.2 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.3.0 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.3.1 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.3.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.3.2 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.3.3 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.3.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.4.1 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.4.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.4.2 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.4.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.4.3 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.4.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.4.4 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.4.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.5.0 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.5.1 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.5.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.5.2 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.5.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.5.3 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.5.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.5.4 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.5.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.5.9 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.5.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.6.0 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.6.1 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.6.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.6.2 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.6.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.6.3 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.6.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.6.4 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.6.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.7.0 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.7.1 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.7.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.7.2 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.7.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.7.3 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.7.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.8.0 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.8.1 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.8.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.8.2 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.8.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.8.3 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.8.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.8.4 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.8.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.8.6 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.8.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.8.7 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.8.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.9.0 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.9.1 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.9.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.9.2 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.9.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.9.3 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.9.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.10.0 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.10.1 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.10.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.10.2 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.10.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.10.3 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.10.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.10.4 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.10.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.10.5 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.10.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.10.6 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.10.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.10.7 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.10.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.11.0 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.11.1 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.11.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.11.2 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.11.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
poppler poppler 0.11.3 cpe:2.3:a:poppler:poppler:0.11.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2009-3603

URL Tags
ftp://ftp.foolabs.com/pub/xpdf/xpdf-3.02pl4.patch Patch
http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2010-February/035340.html
http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2010-February/035399.html
http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2010-February/035408.html
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2009-11/msg00004.html
http://poppler.freedesktop.org/ Patch Vendor Advisory
http://secunia.com/advisories/37034 Vendor Advisory
http://secunia.com/advisories/37053 Vendor Advisory
http://secunia.com/advisories/37054 Vendor Advisory
http://secunia.com/advisories/37114
http://secunia.com/advisories/37159
http://secunia.com/advisories/39327
http://secunia.com/advisories/39938
http://securitytracker.com/id?1023029
http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-274030-1
http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-77-1021706.1-1
http://www.debian.org/security/2010/dsa-2028
http://www.debian.org/security/2010/dsa-2050
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2009:287
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2010:087
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2011:175
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/36703 Exploit Patch
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-850-1
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-850-3
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/2924 Patch Vendor Advisory
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/2925 Patch Vendor Advisory
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2010/0802
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2010/1040
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2010/1220
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=526915
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/53793
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A9671
https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2009-1504.html
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-October/msg00750.html
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-October/msg00784.html
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