CVE-2023-50262 | Dompdf possible DoS caused by infinite recursion when parsing SVG images

Exp

Dompdf is an HTML to PDF converter for PHP. When parsing SVG images Dompdf performs an initial validation to ensure that paths within the SVG are allowed. One of the validations is that the SVG document does not reference itself. However, prior to version 2.0.4, a recursive chained using two or more SVG documents is not correctly validated. Depending on the system configuration and attack pattern this could exhaust the memory available to the executing process and/or to the server itself. php-svg-lib, when run in isolation, does not support SVG references for `image` elements. However, when used in combination with Dompdf, php-svg-lib will process SVG images referenced by an `image` element. Dompdf currently includes validation to prevent self-referential `image` references, but a chained reference is not checked. A malicious actor may thus trigger infinite recursion by chaining references between two or more SVG images. When Dompdf parses a malicious payload, it will crash due after exceeding the allowed execution time or memory usage. An attacker sending multiple request to a system can potentially cause resource exhaustion to the point that the system is unable to handle incoming request. Version 2.0.4 contains a fix for this issue.

Published: 2023-12-13 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-50262 is rated Exploit Available (56.1/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.46%). 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-2023-50262

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-50262

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 6.15% 1.46% -4.68%
2 2025-12-31 4.78% 6.15% +1.36%
3 2025-11-21 — 4.78% —

Full EPSS history (15 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-50262

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-2023-50262

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-50262

GHSA-3qx2-6f78-w2j2 · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: composer — Denial of service caused by infinite recursion when parsing SVG images

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-50262

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2023-50262 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (php-dompdf), 3 status rows across 3 suites (bookworm, bullseye, sid): resolved 3. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-50262
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-50262 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (php-dompdf), 8 status rows across 8 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, lunar, mantic, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 4, DNE 2, ignored 1, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-50262

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-50262

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
dompdf_project dompdf <= 2.0.3 cpe:2.3:a:dompdf_project:dompdf:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-50262

cvelogic Threat Intelligence