CVE-2024-3248 | Stack overflow in Xpdf 4.05 due to object loop in attachments

Exp

In Xpdf 4.05 (and earlier), a PDF object loop in the attachments leads to infinite recursion and a stack overflow.

Published: 2024-04-02 Last update: 2025-01-29 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2024-3248 is rated Exploit Available (50/100): CVSS Low severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). 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-2024-3248

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2024-3248

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 2026-04-14 0.09% 0.02% -0.06%
2 2025-11-28 0.03% 0.09% +0.06%
3 2025-11-21 — 0.03% —

Full EPSS history (9 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2024-3248

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]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2024-3248

OS Trackers for CVE-2024-3248

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2024-3248: 1 source package rows (xpdf); 7 state rows across 3 repos (3.22-community, 3.23-community, edge-community); fixed 0, open 7. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2024-3248
debian unimportant CVE-2024-3248 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-2024-3248
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-3248
ubuntu medium CVE-2024-3248 medium priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (ipe, xpdf), 20 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, upstream, xenial): needs-triage 13, ignored 6, DNE 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2024-3248

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2024-3248

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
xpdfreader xpdf <= 4.05 cpe:2.3:a:xpdfreader:xpdf:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2024-3248

URL Tags
https://forum.xpdfreader.com/viewtopic.php?t=43657 Exploit Vendor Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence