How severe is CVE-2018-18457?

CVE-2018-18457 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.

Is CVE-2018-18457 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 1% (63rd percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2018-18457?

CVE-2018-18457 affects Xpdfreader Xpdf. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.

How do I fix CVE-2018-18457?

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

When was CVE-2018-18457 published?

CVE-2018-18457 was published on 2018-10-18 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2018-18457

CVE-2018-18457 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Xpdfreader Xpdf with a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5. 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-476.

Key facts

Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 5.5)
CVSS v2: 4.3
EPSS exploit prediction: 1% (63rd percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-476
Affected product: Xpdfreader Xpdf
Published: 2018-10-18
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

The function DCTStream::readScan in Stream.cc in Xpdf 4.00 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference) via a crafted pdf file, as demonstrated by pdftoppm.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2018-18457?: The function DCTStream::readScan in Stream.cc in Xpdf 4.00 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference) via a crafted pdf file, as demonstrated by pdftoppm.
How severe is CVE-2018-18457?: CVE-2018-18457 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2018-18457 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 1% (63rd percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2018-18457?: CVE-2018-18457 affects Xpdfreader Xpdf. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
How do I fix CVE-2018-18457?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
When was CVE-2018-18457 published?: CVE-2018-18457 was published on 2018-10-18 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (1)

cpe:2.3:a:xpdfreader:xpdf:4.00:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

More vulnerabilities in Xpdfreader Xpdf

CVE-2024-7868 — High (CVSS 8.2): In Xpdf 4.05 (and earlier), invalid header info in a DCT (JPEG) stream can lead to an uninitialized variable in the DCT…
CVE-2022-38222 — High (CVSS 7.8): There is a use-after-free issue in JBIG2Stream::close() located in JBIG2Stream.cc in Xpdf 4.04. It can be triggered by…
CVE-2022-38928 — High (CVSS 7.8): XPDF 4.04 is vulnerable to Null Pointer Dereference in FoFiType1C.cc:2393.
CVE-2022-38171 — High (CVSS 7.8): Xpdf prior to version 4.04 contains an integer overflow in the JBIG2 decoder (JBIG2Stream::readTextRegionSeg() in…
CVE-2022-33108 — High (CVSS 7.8): XPDF v4.04 was discovered to contain a stack overflow vulnerability via the Object::Copy class of object.cc files.
CVE-2022-30524 — High (CVSS 7.8): There is an invalid memory access in the TextLine class in TextOutputDev.cc in Xpdf 4.0.4 because the text extractor…

All CVEs affecting Xpdfreader Xpdf →

Other CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference) vulnerabilities

CVE-2022-36648 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): The hardware emulation in the of_dpa_cmd_add_l2_flood of rocker device model in QEMU, as used in 7.0.0 and earlier,…
CVE-2020-14500 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Secomea GateManager all versions prior to 9.2c, An attacker can send a negative value and overwrite arbitrary data.
CVE-2010-2495 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): The pppol2tp_xmit function in drivers/net/pppol2tp.c in the L2TP implementation in the Linux kernel before 2.6.34 does…
CVE-2026-46195 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: client: validate dacloffset before building…
CVE-2026-31657 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: batman-adv: hold claim backbone gateways by…
CVE-2026-31436 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dmaengine: idxd: fix possible wrong descriptor…

Browse all CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference) vulnerabilities →