Security Resilience

CVE-2023-46250

DoS in Pypdf Project Pypdf 3.7.0 – 3.17.0

DoS
Published
31 October 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0024 14th percentile
Risk Priority 39 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-46250 is a medium-severity Infinite Loop (CWE-835) vulnerability in Pypdf Project Pypdf. Its CVSS base score is 5.1 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data Obfuscation (T1001); ranked at the 14th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

pypdf is a free and open-source pure-python PDF library. An attacker who uses a vulnerability present in versions 3.7.0 through 3.16.4 can craft a PDF which leads to an infinite loop. This infinite loop blocks the current process and can…

more

utilize a single core of the CPU by 100%. It does not affect memory usage. That is, for example, the case when the pypdf-user manipulates an incoming malicious PDF e.g. by merging it with another PDF or by adding annotations. The issue was fixed in version 3.17.0. As a workaround, apply the patch manually by modifying `pypdf/generic/_data_structures.py`.

CWE(s)
CWE-835

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001 Data Obfuscation Command And Control
Adversaries may obfuscate command and control traffic to make it more difficult to detect.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.003 NTDS Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access or create a copy of the Active Directory domain database in order to steal credential information, as well as obtain other information about domain members such as devices, users, and access rights.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.005 Cached Domain Credentials Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access cached domain credentials used to allow authentication to occur in the event a domain controller is unavailable.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.008 /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump the contents of <code>/etc/passwd</code> and <code>/etc/shadow</code> to enable offline password cracking.
attack.mitre.org →
T1007 System Service Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may try to gather information about registered local system services.
attack.mitre.org →
T1011.001 Exfiltration Over Bluetooth Exfiltration
Adversaries may attempt to exfiltrate data over Bluetooth rather than the command and control channel.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-54531Same product: Pypdf Project Pypdf
CVE-2023-36807Same product: Pypdf Project Pypdf
CVE-2026-54530Same product: Pypdf Project Pypdf
CVE-2026-54651Same product: Pypdf Project Pypdf
CVE-2026-27628Same product: Pypdf Project Pypdf
CVE-2026-33699Same product: Pypdf Project Pypdf
CVE-2026-59935Same product: Pypdf Project Pypdf
CVE-2026-27024Same product: Pypdf Project Pypdf
CVE-2026-24688Same product: Pypdf Project Pypdf
CVE-2023-36464Same product: Pypdf Project Pypdf

Affected Assets

pypdf project
pypdf
3.7.0 — 3.17.0

Mitigating Controls

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

CP-7 Alternate Processing Site
addresses: CWE-835

Enables transfer to alternate site if an infinite loop at the primary renders processing unavailable.

SC-5 Denial-of-service Protection
addresses: CWE-835

Detects and mitigates infinite loops that produce sustained resource consumption.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

ID.RA-01 partial match
blocks

Static analysis and vuln scanning during asset assessment can detect unreachable loop exits.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices (reviews, testing, static analysis) directly prevent introduction of infinite-loop defects.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.8.10 Information deletion partial match
removes

References