CVE-2021-27906 | A carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an OutOfMemory-Exception while loading the file

A carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an OutOfMemory-Exception while loading the file. This issue affects Apache PDFBox version 2.0.22 and prior 2.0.x versions.

Published: 2021-03-19 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2021-27906 is rated Moderate Risk (46.8/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.65%). Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-27906

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 2026-03-21 0.54% 0.65% +0.10%
2 2025-11-21 1.19% 0.54% -0.65%
3 2025-11-18 1.19%

Full EPSS history (22 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-27906

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 3.6 [email protected]
4.3 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P 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:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
8.6 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-27906

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2021-27906

GHSA-6vqp-h455-42mr · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: maven — Uncontrolled Memory Allocation in Apache PDFBox

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-27906

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2021-27906 unimportant priority: Debian including 2 source packages (libpdfbox-java, libpdfbox2-java), 10 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 10. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-27906
redhat low https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-27906
suse medium CVE-2021-27906 severity moderate: SUSE including 7 source package names (apache-pdfbox, apache-pdfbox-2.0.23-1.3, …), 40 product×package rows across 37 product lines (SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0, SUSE CaaS Platform 4.5, … (37 product lines)): Fixed 23, Known Not Affected 17. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-27906/
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-27906 medium priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (libpdfbox-java, libpdfbox2-java), 32 status rows across 16 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): ignored 16, needs-triage 11, DNE 3, needed 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-27906

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-27906

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apache pdfbox >= 2.0.0, <= 2.0.22 cpe:2.3:a:apache:pdfbox:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 32 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:32:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 33 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:33:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 34 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:34:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_corporate_lending_process_management 14.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_corporate_lending_process_management:14.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_corporate_lending_process_management 14.3.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_corporate_lending_process_management:14.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_corporate_lending_process_management 14.5.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_corporate_lending_process_management:14.5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_credit_facilities_process_management 14.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_credit_facilities_process_management:14.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_credit_facilities_process_management 14.3.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_credit_facilities_process_management:14.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_credit_facilities_process_management 14.5.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_credit_facilities_process_management:14.5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_supply_chain_finance 14.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_supply_chain_finance:14.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_supply_chain_finance 14.3.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_supply_chain_finance:14.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_supply_chain_finance 14.5.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_supply_chain_finance:14.5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_trade_finance_process_management 14.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_trade_finance_process_management:14.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_trade_finance_process_management 14.3.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_trade_finance_process_management:14.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_trade_finance_process_management 14.5.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_trade_finance_process_management:14.5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_treasury_management 14.5 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_treasury_management:14.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_virtual_account_management 14.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_virtual_account_management:14.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_virtual_account_management 14.3.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_virtual_account_management:14.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_virtual_account_management 14.5.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_virtual_account_management:14.5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle communications_session_report_manager >= 8.0.0, <= 8.2.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_session_report_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle flexcube_universal_banking >= 14.0.0, <= 14.3.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:flexcube_universal_banking:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle flexcube_universal_banking 14.5.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:flexcube_universal_banking:14.5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle hyperion_financial_reporting 11.1.2.4 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:hyperion_financial_reporting:11.1.2.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle hyperion_financial_reporting 11.2.6.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:hyperion_financial_reporting:11.2.6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle hyperion_infrastructure_technology < 11.2.8.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:hyperion_infrastructure_technology:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle outside_in_technology 8.5.5 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:outside_in_technology:8.5.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools 8.58 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools:8.58:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools 8.59 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools:8.59:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle primavera_unifier >= 17.7, <= 17.12 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:primavera_unifier:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle primavera_unifier 18.8 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:primavera_unifier:18.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle primavera_unifier 19.12 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:primavera_unifier:19.12:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle primavera_unifier 20.12 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:primavera_unifier:20.12:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle retail_customer_management_and_segmentation_foundation 19.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_customer_management_and_segmentation_foundation:19.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle retail_xstore_point_of_service 16.0.6 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_xstore_point_of_service:16.0.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle retail_xstore_point_of_service 17.0.4 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_xstore_point_of_service:17.0.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle retail_xstore_point_of_service 18.0.3 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_xstore_point_of_service:18.0.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle retail_xstore_point_of_service 19.0.2 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_xstore_point_of_service:19.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle retail_xstore_point_of_service 20.0.1 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_xstore_point_of_service:20.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle webcenter_sites 12.2.1.3.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:webcenter_sites:12.2.1.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle webcenter_sites 12.2.1.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:webcenter_sites:12.2.1.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle communications_messaging_server 8.1 cpe:2.3:o:oracle:communications_messaging_server:8.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-27906

URL Tags
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/03/19/10 Mailing List Vendor Advisory
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r1218e60c32829f76943ecaca79237120c2ec1ab266459d711a578b50%40%3Cdev.pdfbox.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r1d268642f8b52456ee8f876b888b8ed7a9e9568c7770789f3ded7f9e%40%3Ccommits.ofbiz.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r4cbc3f6981cd0a1a482531df9d44e4c42a7f63342a7ba78b7bff8a1b%40%3Cnotifications.james.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r54594251369e14c185da9662a5340a52afbbdf75d61c9c3a69c8f2e8%40%3Cdev.pdfbox.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r5c8e2125d18af184c80f7a986fbe47eaf0d30457cd450133adc235ac%40%3Ccommits.ofbiz.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r64982b768c8a2220b07aaf813bd099a9863de0d13eb212fd4efe208f%40%3Cusers.pdfbox.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r6e067a6d83ccb6892d0ff867bd216704f21fb0b6a854dea34be04f12%40%3Cnotifications.ofbiz.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r7ee634c21816c69ce829d0c41f35afa2a53a99bdd3c7cce8644fdc0e%40%3Cnotifications.ofbiz.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r9ffe179385637b0b5cbdabd0246118005b4b8232909d2d14cd68ccd3%40%3Ccommits.ofbiz.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/raa35746227f3f8d50fff1db9899524423a718f6f35cd39bd4769fa6c%40%3Cnotifications.ofbiz.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rc69140d894c6a9c67a8097a25656cce59b46a5620c354ceba10543c3%40%3Cnotifications.ofbiz.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rdf78aef4793362e778e21e34328b0456e302bde4b7e74f229df0ee04%40%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/re1e35881482e07dc2be6058d9b44483457f36133cac67956686ad9b9%40%3Cnotifications.ofbiz.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rf35026148ccc0e1af133501c0d003d052883fcc65107b3ff5d3b61cd%40%3Cusers.pdfbox.apache.org%3E Mailing List Vendor Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/2AVLKAHFMPH72TTP25INPZPGX5FODK3H/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/6KDA2U4KL2N3XT3PM4ZJEBBA6JJIH2G4/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/6PT72QOFDXLJ7PLTN66EMG5EHPTE7TFZ/
https://www.oracle.com//security-alerts/cpujul2021.html Patch Third Party Advisory
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html Third Party Advisory
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html Patch Third Party Advisory
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