Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-50251

DoS in Dompdf Php-Svg-Lib ≤ 0.5.1

Public PoCDoS
Published
12 December 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
EPSS Score 0.0088 56th percentile
Risk Priority 46 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-50251 is a medium-severity Uncontrolled Recursion (CWE-674) vulnerability in Dompdf Php-Svg-Lib. Its CVSS base score is 5.3 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Endpoint Denial of Service (T1499); ranked in the top 44% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

php-svg-lib is an SVG file parsing / rendering library. Prior to version 0.5.1, when parsing the attributes passed to a `use` tag inside an svg document, an attacker can cause the system to go to an infinite recursion. Depending on…

more

the system configuration and attack pattern this could exhaust the memory available to the executing process and/or to the server itself. An attacker sending multiple request to a system to render the above payload can potentially cause resource exhaustion to the point that the system is unable to handle incoming request. Version 0.5.1 contains a patch for this issue.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1499 Endpoint Denial of Service Impact
Adversaries may perform Endpoint Denial of Service (DoS) attacks to degrade or block the availability of services to users.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-50252Same product: Dompdf Php-Svg-Lib
CVE-2026-0994Shared CWE-674
CVE-2024-47831Shared CWE-674
CVE-2025-7005Shared CWE-674
CVE-2026-48506Shared CWE-674
CVE-2026-49847Shared CWE-674
CVE-2026-63759Shared CWE-674
CVE-2024-58103Shared CWE-674
CVE-2025-10728Shared CWE-674
CVE-2024-42369Shared CWE-674

Affected Assets

dompdf
php-svg-lib
≤ 0.5.1

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.

addresses: CWE-674

Supports resumption at alternate site when uncontrolled recursion causes primary site failure or crash.

addresses: CWE-674

Prevents uncontrolled recursion that exhausts stack or CPU resources.

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.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent coding errors such as missing recursion limits or termination conditions.

DE.CM-09 partial match
prevents

Runtime monitoring of compute resources can detect excessive consumption caused by uncontrolled recursion.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover and record uncontrolled recursion flaws before deployment.

PR.IR-04 partial match
prevents

Capacity monitoring and resource provisioning can absorb or limit the impact of runaway recursion.

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.

finds

Security testing in development can detect excessive recursion via static analysis or fuzzing.

prevents

Secure development life cycle requires controls that prevent uncontrolled recursion through design and code review.

prevents

Application security requirements can mandate recursion limits or stack-depth checks.

prevents

Secure system architecture principles include resource-management and input-validation rules that limit recursion.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prohibit or constrain recursive constructs that could exhaust stack or memory.

finds

Capacity management includes monitoring and limits that mitigate resource exhaustion from runaway recursion.

References