CVE-2010-4654
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2010-4654 is a stack corruption vulnerability in poppler PDF rendering library versions before 0.16.3. Malformed PDF commands can corrupt the internal stack, potentially allowing arbitrary code execution. Systems using vulnerable poppler versions for PDF processing are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- poppler
- applications using poppler library (e.g., PDF viewers, document processors)
📦 What is this software?
Poppler by Freedesktop
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution with the privileges of the application using poppler, potentially leading to complete system compromise.
Likely Case
Application crash or denial of service when processing malicious PDF files.
If Mitigated
Limited to denial of service if exploit attempts are blocked or applications run with reduced privileges.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user to open a malicious PDF file. Public proof-of-concept code exists demonstrating the vulnerability.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: poppler 0.16.3 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2010-4654
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update poppler package using system package manager. 2. For Linux: 'sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install poppler-utils' (Debian/Ubuntu) or 'sudo yum update poppler' (RHEL/CentOS). 3. Restart affected applications using poppler.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable PDF processing
allTemporarily disable PDF file processing in affected applications until patched.
Use alternative PDF renderer
linuxConfigure applications to use alternative PDF rendering libraries instead of poppler.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unauthorized PDF processing applications.
- Deploy PDF file type filtering at network perimeter to block malicious PDF files.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check poppler version: 'poppler-tools --version' or 'dpkg -l | grep poppler' on Debian/Ubuntu, 'rpm -q poppler' on RHEL/CentOS.Check Version:
poppler-tools --version 2>/dev/null || dpkg -l | grep poppler 2>/dev/null || rpm -q poppler 2>/dev/nullVerify Fix Applied:
Verify installed poppler version is 0.16.3 or higher using version check commands.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Application crashes when processing PDF files
- Segmentation fault errors in application logs
Network Indicators:
- Unusual PDF file downloads to systems with vulnerable poppler
SIEM Query:
source="application_logs" AND ("segmentation fault" OR "crash") AND "pdf"🔗 References
- http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-201310-03.xml
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2010-4654
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2010-4654
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2010-4654
- http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-201310-03.xml
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2010-4654
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2010-4654
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2010-4654
