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MEDIUM severity

Uncontrolled Memory Allocation in Apache PDFBoxGHSA-6vqp-h455-42mr

MEDIUMFix: apache/pdfbox@8c47be1

GHSA-6vqp-h455-42mr is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.5) CWE-789 vulnerability in org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox. A fix is available for org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Also known asCVE-2021-27906
Published
Updated
Affected
1 pkg
Patched
1 / 1
Exploits
None indexed
Exploitation data as of Nov 9, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗
3.3%probability of exploitation in next 30 days
Lower Risk0.00%
Lower risk than most CVEs89th percentile — riskier than 89% of all scored CVEsHighest risk
0.00%1.38%2.76%4.14%0.6%3.3%May 26Sep 26Nov 26

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

1 pkg affected
☕org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox

Real-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

A carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an OutOfMemory-Exception while loading the file. This issue affects Apache PDFBox version 2.0.22 and prior 2.0.x versions.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed
EcosystemPackageVulnerable rangeFix
☕Mavenorg.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox≥ 2.0.0&&< 2.0.232.0.23org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox:2.0.23

Affected Products

19 products · 42 configurations
Application
pdfboxapache
≥ 2.0.0 && ≤ 2.0.22
range
OS
fedorafedoraproject
3 versions
323334
Application
banking corporate lending process managementoracle
3 versions
14.2.014.3.014.5.0
Application
banking credit facilities process managementoracle
3 versions
14.2.014.3.014.5.0
Application
banking supply chain financeoracle
3 versions
14.2.014.3.014.5.0
Application
banking trade finance process managementoracle
3 versions
14.2.014.3.014.5.0

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency
  1. Detect

    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.

  2. Fix

    Update org.apache.pdfbox:pdfbox to 2.0.23 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-6vqp-h455-42mr is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

  3. 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.

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.

Red HatLow
ProductFixed inAdvisory
Red Hat Fuse 7.9pdfboxRHSA-2021:3140
Red Hat Integrationsee advisoryRHSA-2021:3205

Frequently Asked Questions

A carefully crafted PDF file can trigger an OutOfMemory-Exception while loading the file. This issue affects Apache PDFBox version 2.0.22 and prior 2.0.x versions.
O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

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Uncontrolled Memory Allocation in Apache PDFBox