CVE-2023-50262 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.3) Improper Input Validation vulnerability in dompdf/dompdf. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for dompdf/dompdf — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Dompdf possible DoS caused by infinite recursion when parsing SVG images
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
dompdf/dompdfReal-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
Summary
When parsing SVG images Dompdf performs an initial validation to ensure that paths within the SVG are allowed. One of the validations is that the SVG document does not reference itself. However, a recursive chained using two or more SVG documents is not correctly validated. Depending on the system configuration and attack pattern this could exhaust the memory available to the executing process and/or to the server itself.
Details
php-svg-lib, when run in isolation, does not support SVG references for image elements. An SVG document can, however, be referenced and Dompdf will run that reference through the same validation. Dompdf currently includes validation to prevent self-referential image references, but a chained reference is not checked. A malicious actor may thus trigger infinite recursion in the validation process by chaining references between two or more SVG images.
PoC
This following sources can be used to bypass validation provided by Dompdf:
recurse.html
<img src="one.svg">
one.svg
<svg width="200" height="200" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
<image href="two.svg" />
</svg>
two.svg
<svg width="200" height="200" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
<image href="one.svg" />
</svg>
Impact
When Dompdf parses the above payload, it will crash due after exceeding the allowed execution time or memory usage. An attacker sending multiple request to a system can potentially cause resource exhaustion to the point that the system is unable to handle incoming request.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | dompdf/dompdf | all versions | 2.0.4composer require dompdf/dompdf:^2.0.4 |
Affected Products
dompdfdompdf_projectResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for dompdf/dompdf, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update dompdf/dompdf to 2.0.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-50262 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Cap what an attacker can consume: apply request size, rate and timeout limits in front of the affected component, and run it with memory and CPU limits so exhaustion degrades one worker rather than the whole service.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2023-50262 in your dependencies?
Find it across Packagist, including transitive dependencies.