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CVE-2017-5855 Podofo Project CVE debrief

CVE-2017-5855 is a denial-of-service issue in PoDoFo 0.9.4’s PDF parsing path. A crafted file can trigger a NULL pointer dereference in PoDoFo::PdfParser::ReadXRefSubsection (PdfParser.cpp), crashing the parser. The record is rated CVSS 3.0 5.5 (medium) and is limited to availability impact.

Vendor
Podofo Project
Product
Podofo
CVSS
MEDIUM 5.5
CISA KEV
Not listed in stored evidence
Original CVE published
2017-03-01
Original CVE updated
2026-05-13
Advisory published
2017-03-01
Advisory updated
2026-05-13

Who should care

Security and platform teams that deploy PoDoFo 0.9.4 or applications that embed it, especially if they open untrusted PDF content or other externally supplied files.

Technical summary

According to NVD, the vulnerable component is PoDoFo::PdfParser::ReadXRefSubsection in PdfParser.cpp, with CWE-476 (NULL pointer dereference). The NVD CVSS vector is AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H, which indicates a crash/availability issue rather than a code-execution or data-exposure flaw. The short CVE description says "remote attackers," but the CVSS vector classifies the attack as local with required user interaction.

Defensive priority

Medium. The issue does not indicate confidentiality or integrity impact, but it can crash PDF-processing workflows that consume untrusted files.

Recommended defensive actions

  • Identify whether any deployed products or internal tools bundle PoDoFo 0.9.4.
  • Treat PoDoFo-based PDF parsing as untrusted input handling and reduce exposure to externally supplied files where possible.
  • Apply the vendor or downstream fix if your distribution provides one; if not, upgrade to a patched PoDoFo release when available.
  • Add regression testing for malformed or crafted PDF inputs in any service that uses PoDoFo.
  • Monitor for parser crashes or abnormal exits in PDF-processing applications as an indicator of exploitation or accidental trigger.

Evidence notes

CVE published on 2017-03-01T15:59:01.087Z and later modified in NVD on 2026-05-13T00:24:29.033Z; the supplied third-party advisory reference is dated 2017-02-01. NVD lists PoDoFo 0.9.4 as the affected version and assigns CWE-476 with CVSS 3.0 AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H. The supplied corpus does not include a vendor-maintained patch URL, only official record links and third-party references.

Sources and references

Verified primary and authoritative sources

  • CVE-2017-5855 CVE Program record

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-5855

    CVE Program - Official CVE Program record with source-provided CVE metadata.

  • CVE-2017-5855 NVD vulnerability detail

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-5855

    NIST National Vulnerability Database - Official NIST NVD detail page and source-specific vulnerability assessment.

Supplemental references

  • Mitigation or vendor reference

    Unverified legacy reference

    URL: https://blogs.gentoo.org/ago/2017/02/01/podofo-null-pointer-dereference-in-podofopdfparserreadxrefsubsection-pdfparser-cpp/

    [email protected] - Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry

Methodology and review provenance

AI-assisted synthesis based on stored public vulnerability evidence. System validation, approval state, and publication status do not by themselves establish human review of this revision. PatchSiren helps prioritize defensive review and does not prove exposure or remediation on any system.