CVE-2016-2175 — pdfbox
HIGHCVE-2016-2175 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.8) vulnerability in org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox. A fix is available for org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox — see the affected versions and patch details below.
High severity vulnerability that affects org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2016-2175 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,636 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox☕org.apache.pdfbox:pdfboxReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Apache PDFBox before 1.8.12 and 2.x before 2.0.1 does not properly initialize the XML parsers, which allows context-dependent attackers to conduct XML External Entity (XXE) attacks via a crafted PDF.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox | all versions | 1.8.12org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox:1.8.12 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox | ≥ 2.0.0&&< 2.0.1 | 2.0.1org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox:2.0.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox to 1.8.12 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2016-2175 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2016-2175 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2016-2175. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat JBoss A-MQ 6.3 | see advisory | RHSA-2017:0179 |
| Red Hat JBoss BPMS 6.4 | see advisory | RHSA-2017:0249 |
| Red Hat JBoss BRMS 6.4 | see advisory | RHSA-2017:0248 |
| Red Hat JBoss Data Virtualization 6.3 | pdfbox | RHSA-2017:0272 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2016-2175 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2016-2175 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.