CVE-2024-6239VulnerabilityPublished 21 Jun 2024Updated 20 Nov 2025

CVE-2024-6239: poppler · Improper Input Validation

Affects popplerSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.5High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 55% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 21 Jun 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-26.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Red Hatredhat/poppler`pkg:rpm/redhat/poppler`Other threats	Affected =24.06.0	Fixed in–

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AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2024-6239, organizations should first check for and apply any official patches or updates from the Poppler project or their Linux distribution vendors once available. Until patches are released, consider the following specific actions: 1) Restrict access to pdfinfo utility to trusted users and systems only, preventing exposure to untrusted PDF files. 2) Implement input validation or filtering at the application or network level to block or quarantine suspicious or malformed PDF files before they reach pdfinfo. 3) Use sandboxing or containerization to isolate pdfinfo execution, limiting the impact of crashes on the broader system. 4) Monitor logs and system behavior for repeated crashes or abnormal pdfinfo activity that may indicate exploitation attempts. 5) Where feasible, replace or supplement pdfinfo with alternative PDF metadata extraction tools that are not vulnerable or have been patched. 6) Educate users and administrators about the risk of processing untrusted PDFs and enforce strict file handling policies. These targeted mitigations can reduce the attack surface and limit the operational impact until a permanent fix is deployed.

Description

A flaw was found in the Poppler's Pdfinfo utility. This issue occurs when using -dests parameter with pdfinfo utility. By using certain malformed input files, an attacker could cause the utility to crash, leading to a denial of service.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2024-6239 is denial of service due to the crashing of the pdfinfo utility. Organizations relying on Poppler's pdfinfo for PDF metadata extraction, indexing, or automated document workflows may experience service interruptions or failures when processing maliciously crafted PDFs. This could disrupt document management systems, content delivery pipelines, or security analysis tools that utilize pdfinfo. Since the vulnerability does not affect confidentiality or integrity, data breaches or unauthorized data modifications are not a direct concern. However, availability disruptions can lead to operational delays, reduced productivity, and potential cascading failures in dependent systems. Attackers could exploit this vulnerability to target PDF processing services exposed to untrusted inputs, potentially causing repeated crashes and denial of service conditions. The ease of exploitation and lack of required privileges increase the risk in environments where pdfinfo is accessible or integrated into automated workflows.

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 28 Feb 2026, 03:44 UTC

Technical details

References

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