CVE-2019-9903: Medium severity Freedesktop poppler vulnerability

Published Mar 21, 2019
·
Updated

Last updated 25 August 2025

Other sources

PDFDoc::markObject in PDFDoc.cc in Poppler 0.74.0 mishandles dict marking, leading to stack consumption in the function Dict::find() located at Dict.cc, which can (for example) be triggered by passing a crafted pdf file to the pdfunite binary.

Launchpad

Affected Software

21 affected componentsFixes available
Freedesktop poppler=0.74.0
Fedoraproject Fedora=28
Fedoraproject Fedora=29
Fedoraproject Fedora=30
Debian Debian Linux=10.0
Canonical Ubuntu Linux=16.04
Canonical Ubuntu Linux=18.04
Canonical Ubuntu Linux=18.10
Canonical Ubuntu Linux=19.04
redhat Enterprise Linux=8.0
redhat Enterprise Linux Eus=8.1
redhat Enterprise Linux Eus=8.2
redhat Enterprise Linux Eus=8.4
redhat Enterprise Linux Eus=8.6
redhat Enterprise Linux Server Aus=8.2
redhat Enterprise Linux Server Aus=8.4
redhat Enterprise Linux Server Aus=8.6
redhat Enterprise Linux Server Tus=8.2
redhat Enterprise Linux Server Tus=8.4
redhat Enterprise Linux Server Tus=8.6
debian/poppler
20.09.0-3.1+deb11u120.09.0-3.1+deb11u222.12.0-2+deb12u125.03.0-5+deb13u225.03.0-11.1

Event History

Mar 21, 2019
CVE Published
via MITRE·05:42 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·05:42 PM
Description
Mar 22, 2019
Data Sourced
via Red Hat·10:45 AM
DescriptionSeverityAffected Software
Feb 20, 2026
Data Sourced
via Ubuntu·01:27 AM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityAffected Software
Data Sourced
via Launchpad·01:28 AM
Description
Data Sourced
via Debian·01:28 AM
DescriptionAffected Software
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Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is CVE-2019-9903?

CVE-2019-9903 is a vulnerability that affects Poppler 0.74.0, allowing for stack consumption due to mishandling of dict marking in the PDFDoc::markObject function.

2

Which software versions are affected by CVE-2019-9903?

Poppler 0.74.0, Fedora 28, Fedora 29, Fedora 30, Debian Linux 10.0, Ubuntu Linux 16.04, Ubuntu Linux 18.04, Ubuntu Linux 18.10, Ubuntu Linux 19.04, and Redhat Enterprise Linux 8.0-8.6 are affected by CVE-2019-9903.

3

What is the severity of CVE-2019-9903?

CVE-2019-9903 has a severity value of 6.5, which is considered medium.

4

How can I fix CVE-2019-9903?

To fix CVE-2019-9903, update Poppler to version 0.71.0-5+deb10u3 or higher (for Debian), version 20.09.0-3.1+deb11u1 or higher (for Ubuntu), or version 22.12.0-2 or higher (for general source).

5

Where can I find more information about CVE-2019-9903?

You can find more information about CVE-2019-9903 at the following references: [CVE-2019-9903](https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2019-9903), [Loginsoft Research Report](https://research.loginsoft.com/bugs/stack-based-buffer-overflows-in-dictfind-poppler-0-74-0/), [USN-4042-1](https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-4042-1).

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