CVE-2018-17057 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in tecnickcom/tcpdf. 2 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for tecnickcom/tcpdf — see the affected versions and patch details below.
TCPDF vulnerable to attackers triggering deserialization of arbitrary data
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-2018-17057 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 10–50% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
tecnickcom/tcpdf🐘fooman/tcpdf🐘la-haute-societe/tcpdf🐘spoonity/tcpdfReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
An issue was discovered in TCPDF before 6.2.22. Attackers can trigger deserialization of arbitrary data via the phar:// wrapper.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | tecnickcom/tcpdf | all versions | 6.2.22composer require tecnickcom/tcpdf:^6.2.22 |
| 🐘Packagist | fooman/tcpdf | all versions | 6.2.22composer require fooman/tcpdf:^6.2.22 |
| 🐘Packagist | la-haute-societe/tcpdf | all versions | 6.2.22composer require la-haute-societe/tcpdf:^6.2.22 |
| 🐘Packagist | spoonity/tcpdf | all versions | 6.2.22composer require spoonity/tcpdf:^6.2.22 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
LimeSurvey < 3.16 - Remote Code Execution
by q3rv0 · Apr 2, 2019
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for tecnickcom/tcpdf, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update tecnickcom/tcpdf to 6.2.22 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2018-17057 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-2018-17057 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2018-17057. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2018-17057 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2018-17057 across Packagist dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.