CVE-2023-2663 | Stack overflow in Xpdf 4.04 due to object loop in PDF page label tree

Exp

 In Xpdf 4.04 (and earlier), a PDF object loop in the page label tree leads to infinite recursion and a stack overflow.

Published: 2023-05-11 Last update: 2025-01-24 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-2663 is rated Exploit Available (50/100): CVSS Low severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.06%). 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). 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-2023-2663

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-2663

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 2025-11-03 0.02% 0.06% +0.05%
2 2025-04-15 0.15% 0.02% -0.13%
3 2025-03-30 — 0.15% —

Full EPSS history (7 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-2663

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
2.9 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L 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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
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:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 1.4 1.4 [email protected]
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]
9.1 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
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:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
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:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.2 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-2663

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-2663

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2023-2663: 1 source package rows (xpdf); 13 state rows across 8 repos (3.17-community, 3.18-community, 3.19-community, 3.20-community, 3.21-community, 3.22-community, 3.23-community, edge-community); fixed 6, open 7. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2023-2663
debian unimportant CVE-2023-2663 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (xpdf), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-2663
gentoo normal CVE-2023-2663: 1 GLSA(s) (202409-25), 1 atom(s) (app-text/xpdf); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2023-2663
ubuntu negligible CVE-2023-2663 negligible priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (ipe, xpdf), 26 status rows across 13 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): needs-triage 13, ignored 12, DNE 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-2663

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-2663

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
xpdfreader xpdf <= 4.04 cpe:2.3:a:xpdfreader:xpdf:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-2663

cvelogic Threat Intelligence