CVE-2023-50251 | php-svg-lib possible DoS caused by infinite recursion when parsing SVG document

Exp

php-svg-lib is an SVG file parsing / rendering library. Prior to version 0.5.1, when parsing the attributes passed to a `use` tag inside an svg document, an attacker can cause the system to go to an infinite recursion. Depending on the system configuration and attack pattern this could exhaust the memory available to the executing process and/or to the server itself. An attacker sending multiple request to a system to render the above payload can potentially cause resource exhaustion to the point that the system is unable to handle incoming request. Version 0.5.1 contains a patch for this issue.

Published: 2023-12-12 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-50251 is rated Exploit Available (55.8/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.88%). 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-2023-50251

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-50251

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 0.27% 0.88% +0.61%
2 2025-12-30 0.19% 0.27% +0.07%
3 2025-11-21 — 0.19% —

Full EPSS history (12 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-50251

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L 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:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 3.9 1.4 [email protected]
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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: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.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-50251

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-50251

GHSA-ff5x-7qg5-vwf2 · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: composer — Denial of service caused by infinite recursion when parsing SVG document

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-50251

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-50251 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (php-dompdf-svg-lib), 2 status rows across 2 suites (bookworm, sid): resolved 2. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-50251
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-50251 medium priority: Ubuntu has no source package entries, 0 status rows across 0 suites (none): no status rows. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-50251

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-50251

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
dompdf php-svg-lib < 0.5.1 cpe:2.3:a:dompdf:php-svg-lib:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-50251

cvelogic Threat Intelligence