How severe is CVE-2018-13988?

CVE-2018-13988 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.

Is CVE-2018-13988 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 3% (86th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2018-13988?

CVE-2018-13988 primarily affects Freedesktop Poppler. In total, 10 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.

How do I fix CVE-2018-13988?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.

When was CVE-2018-13988 published?

CVE-2018-13988 was published on 2018-07-25 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2018-13988

CVE-2018-13988 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Freedesktop Poppler with a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.5. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-125.

Key facts

Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 6.5)
CVSS v2: 4.3
EPSS exploit prediction: 3% (86th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-125
Affected product: Freedesktop Poppler
Published: 2018-07-25
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

Poppler through 0.62 contains an out of bounds read vulnerability due to an incorrect memory access that is not mapped in its memory space, as demonstrated by pdfunite. This can result in memory corruption and denial of service. This may be exploitable when a victim opens a specially crafted PDF file.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2018-13988?: Poppler through 0.62 contains an out of bounds read vulnerability due to an incorrect memory access that is not mapped in its memory space, as demonstrated by pdfunite. This can result in memory corruption and denial of service. This may be exploitable when a victim opens a specially crafted PDF file.
How severe is CVE-2018-13988?: CVE-2018-13988 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2018-13988 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 3% (86th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2018-13988?: CVE-2018-13988 primarily affects Freedesktop Poppler. In total, 10 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2018-13988?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
When was CVE-2018-13988 published?: CVE-2018-13988 was published on 2018-07-25 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (10)

cpe:2.3:a:freedesktop:poppler:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:redhat:ansible_tower:3.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:redhat:openshift_container_platform:3.11:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

More vulnerabilities in Freedesktop Poppler

CVE-2019-9631 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): Poppler 0.74.0 has a heap-based buffer over-read in the CairoRescaleBox.cc downsample_row_box_filter function.
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CVE-2019-9545 — High (CVSS 8.8): An issue was discovered in Poppler 0.74.0. A recursive function call, in JBIG2Stream::readTextRegion() located in…
CVE-2019-9543 — High (CVSS 8.8): An issue was discovered in Poppler 0.74.0. A recursive function call, in JBIG2Stream::readGenericBitmap() located in…

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Other CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read) vulnerabilities

CVE-2026-24826 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Out-of-bounds Write, Divide By Zero, NULL Pointer Dereference, Use of Uninitialized Resource, Out-of-bounds Read,…
CVE-2024-22004 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Due to length check, an attacker with privilege access on a Linux Nonsecure operating system can trigger a…
CVE-2021-41556 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): sqclass.cpp in Squirrel through 2.2.5 and 3.x through 3.1 allows an out-of-bounds read (in the core interpreter) that…
CVE-2021-21777 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): An information disclosure vulnerability exists in the Ethernet/IP UDP handler functionality of EIP Stack Group OpENer…
CVE-2017-14451 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): An exploitable out-of-bounds read vulnerability exists in libevm (Ethereum Virtual Machine) of CPP-Ethereum. A…
CVE-2013-0767 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): The nsSVGPathElement::GetPathLengthScale function in Mozilla Firefox before 18.0, Firefox ESR 10.x before 10.0.12 and…

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