CVE-2012-2142 – CVE-2012-2142 is a command injection vulnerabil... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2012-2142?

CVE-2012-2142 has a CVSS score of 7.8 (HIGH). CVE-2012-2142 is a command injection vulnerability in poppler's error handling function that allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via specially crafted PDF files. The vulnerability affects systems using poppler PDF rendering library versions before 0.21.4. Users and applications that process untrusted PDF files are at risk.

📋 TL;DR

CVE-2012-2142 is a command injection vulnerability in poppler's error handling function that allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via specially crafted PDF files. The vulnerability affects systems using poppler PDF rendering library versions before 0.21.4. Users and applications that process untrusted PDF files are at risk.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

poppler
applications using poppler library (e.g., Evince, Okular, PDF viewers)

Versions: poppler versions before 0.21.4

Operating Systems: Linux, Unix-like systems, Any OS running vulnerable poppler

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Any application that uses poppler to render PDFs from untrusted sources is vulnerable. The vulnerability is in the error handling code that processes terminal escape sequences.

📦 What is this software?

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Complete system compromise with arbitrary command execution as the user running the vulnerable poppler process, potentially leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or persistent backdoor installation.

🟠

Likely Case

Local privilege escalation or remote code execution in applications that process PDF files from untrusted sources, such as document viewers, web applications, or email clients.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact if proper sandboxing, privilege separation, and input validation are implemented; exploitation would be contained within restricted environments.

🌐 Internet-Facing: MEDIUM

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ⚠️ Yes

Weaponized: LIKELY

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: LOW

Exploitation requires the victim to open a malicious PDF file. The vulnerability is well-documented with public proof-of-concept available in security advisories.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: poppler 0.21.4 and later

Vendor Advisory: http://cgit.freedesktop.org/poppler/poppler/commit/?id=71bad47ed6a36d825b0d08992c8db56845c71e40

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Update poppler to version 0.21.4 or later using your distribution's package manager. 2. Restart any applications using poppler. 3. For source installations: download latest poppler, compile, and replace existing installation.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable terminal escape sequence processing

linux

Modify poppler configuration to disable terminal escape sequence handling in error messages

# This requires modifying poppler source code and recompiling
# Not recommended as primary fix - use patching instead

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement strict PDF file validation and sandboxing for PDF processing applications
Use alternative PDF rendering libraries that are not vulnerable to this issue

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check poppler version: `poppler-utils --version` or `dpkg -l | grep poppler` or `rpm -qa | grep poppler`. If version is below 0.21.4, system is vulnerable.

Check Version:

poppler-utils --version 2>/dev/null || dpkg -l poppler-utils 2>/dev/null || rpm -q poppler-utils 2>/dev/null

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify poppler version is 0.21.4 or higher: `poppler-utils --version | grep -q '0\.2[1-9]\|0\.[3-9]\|[1-9]' && echo 'Patched' || echo 'Vulnerable'`

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Unusual process spawns from PDF viewer applications
Error messages containing terminal escape sequences in application logs
Unexpected command execution following PDF file processing

Network Indicators:

Outbound connections from PDF processing applications to unexpected destinations
Command and control traffic following PDF file access

SIEM Query:

process_name:"pdf" AND (process_spawn:true OR command_execution:true) OR error_message:"terminal escape"

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2012-2142

CVSS v3 Score: 7.8 (HIGH)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Published: January 9, 2020

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

http://cgit.freedesktop.org/poppler/poppler/commit/?id=71bad47ed6a36d825b0d08992c8db56845c71e40 Patch,Vendor Advisory
http://cgit.freedesktop.org/poppler/poppler/commit/NEWS?id=2bc48d5369f1dbecfc4db2878f33bdeb80d8d90f Patch,Vendor Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2013-08/msg00049.html Mailing List,Patch,Third Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2013/08/09/5 Exploit,Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2013/08/09/6 Exploit,Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=789936 Issue Tracking,Third Party Advisory
http://cgit.freedesktop.org/poppler/poppler/commit/?id=71bad47ed6a36d825b0d08992c8db56845c71e40 Patch,Vendor Advisory
http://cgit.freedesktop.org/poppler/poppler/commit/NEWS?id=2bc48d5369f1dbecfc4db2878f33bdeb80d8d90f Patch,Vendor Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2013-08/msg00049.html Mailing List,Patch,Third Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2013/08/09/5 Exploit,Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2013/08/09/6 Exploit,Mailing List,Third Party Advisory
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=789936 Issue Tracking,Third Party Advisory

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