Description
Various PDF viewers including (1) Adobe Acrobat 5.06 and (2) Xpdf 1.01 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in an embedded hyperlink.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | xpdf | 2.02pl1-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | xpdf | 2.02pl1-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | xpdf | 2.02pl1-1 | — |
Public exploits
Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.
Third-party code, not reviewed by us. Public PoCs are sometimes fake or contain malware. Read the code first and run it only in an isolated lab, against systems you are authorised to test.
Exploit-DB 1
- Adobe Acrobat Reader (UNIX) 5.0 6 / Xpdf 0.9x Hyperlinks - Arbitrary Command Execution EDB-22771 · remote · Jun 13, 2003 · verified
Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.
References
- 9038 third-party-advisory
- MDKSA-2003:071 vendor-advisory
- VU#200132 third-party-advisory
- 20030613 -10Day CERT Advisory on PDF Files mailing-list
- RHSA-2003:196 vendor-advisory
- 9037 third-party-advisory
- RHSA-2003:197 vendor-advisory
- 20030709 xpdf vulnerability - CAN-2003-0434 mailing-list
- oval:org.mitre.oval:def:664 vdb-entry signature