What is CVE-2009-3603?

CVE-2009-3603 is a vulnerability in Foolabs Xpdf, classified under CWE-189. Published 2009-10-21.

Is CVE-2009-3603 known to be exploited?

2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Vulnerability in Foolabs Xpdf

CVE-2009-3603

Integer overflow in the SplashBitmap::SplashBitmap function in Xpdf 3.x before 3.02pl4 and Poppler before 0.12.1 might allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted PDF document that triggers a heap-based buffer overflow. NOTE: some of these details are obtained from third party information. NOTE: this issue reportedly exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2009-1188.

Published 2009-10-21 · last modified 2026-06-16.

CVSS v2 metric

CVSS v2 base score 9.3 (High). Vector: AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C. This CVE predates CVSS v3 and has no v3 score from NVD.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.086 (94.9th percentile), scored 2026-09-29.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 95th percentile — 94.9% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.086 · newest: 0.086 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Foolabs Xpdf — versions 3.02pl1, 3.02pl2, 3.02pl3
Glyphandcog Xpdfreader — versions 3.00, 3.01, 3.02
Poppler — versions 0.1, 0.1.1, 0.1.2

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-189

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

secunia.com/advisories/39938 (third-party-advisory)
rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2009-1504.html (vendor-advisory)
www.mandriva.com/security/advisories (vendor-advisory)
lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2010-February/035408.html (vendor-advisory)
www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-October/msg00750.html (vendor-advisory)
poppler.freedesktop.org/ (Patch, Vendor Advisory)
lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2009-11/msg00004.html (vendor-advisory)
www.debian.org/security/2010/dsa-2028 (vendor-advisory)
www.debian.org/security/2010/dsa-2050 (vendor-advisory)
secunia.com/advisories/37159 (third-party-advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2009-3603?: CVE-2009-3603 is a vulnerability in Foolabs Xpdf, classified under CWE-189. Published 2009-10-21.
Is CVE-2009-3603 known to be exploited?: 2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.