How severe is CVE-2026-38970?

CVE-2026-38970 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.5, rated high severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.

Is CVE-2026-38970 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (36th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

How do I fix CVE-2026-38970?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its high severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.

When was CVE-2026-38970 published?

CVE-2026-38970 was published on 2026-07-02 and last updated on 2026-07-06.

CVE-2026-38970

CVE-2026-38970 is a high-severity vulnerability with a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.5. 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-674.

Key facts

Severity: High (CVSS 3.x base score 7.5)
EPSS exploit prediction: 0% (36th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-674
Published: 2026-07-02
Last modified: 2026-07-06

Description

pdfcpu through v0.11.1 contains an uncontrolled-recursion denial-of-service issue in pkg/pdfcpu/model/parse.go. The parser descends recursively through nested PDF objects, including arrays, via ParseObjectContext() and parseArray() without enforcing a maximum nesting depth.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-38970?: pdfcpu through v0.11.1 contains an uncontrolled-recursion denial-of-service issue in pkg/pdfcpu/model/parse.go. The parser descends recursively through nested PDF objects, including arrays, via ParseObjectContext() and parseArray() without enforcing a maximum nesting depth.
How severe is CVE-2026-38970?: CVE-2026-38970 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.5, rated high severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2026-38970 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (36th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How do I fix CVE-2026-38970?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its high severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.
When was CVE-2026-38970 published?: CVE-2026-38970 was published on 2026-07-02 and last updated on 2026-07-06.

References

Other CWE-674 (Uncontrolled Recursion) vulnerabilities

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CVE-2021-41752 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): Stack overflow vulnerability in Jerryscript before commit e1ce7dd7271288be8c0c8136eea9107df73a8ce2 on Oct 20, 2021 due…
CVE-2018-1000618 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): EOSIO/eos eos version after commit f1545dd0ae2b77580c2236fdb70ae7138d2c7168 contains a stack overflow vulnerability in…
CVE-2025-10728 — Critical (CVSS 9.4): When the module renders a Svg file that contains a <pattern> element, it might end up rendering it recursively leading…
CVE-2026-40324 — Critical (CVSS 9.1): Hot Chocolate is an open-source GraphQL server. Prior to versions 12.22.7, 13.9.16, 14.3.1, and 15.1.14, Hot…

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