What is CVE-2021-36493?

CVE-2021-36493 is a high-severity vulnerability in Xpdfreader Xpdf, classified under Out-of-bounds Write. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2023-02-03.

How severe is CVE-2021-36493?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.

Buffer overflow in Xpdfreader Xpdf

CVE-2021-36493

Buffer Overflow vulnerability in pdfimages in xpdf 4.03 allows attackers to crash the application via crafted command.

Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow

Published 2023-02-03 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.5 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.009 (58.4th percentile), scored 2026-10-19.

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 58th percentile — 58.4% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.009 · newest: 0.009 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Xpdfreader Xpdf — versions 4.03

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-787 — Out-of-bounds Write

References

forum.xpdfreader.com/viewtopic.php (Exploit, Vendor Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-36493?: CVE-2021-36493 is a high-severity vulnerability in Xpdfreader Xpdf, classified under Out-of-bounds Write. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2023-02-03.
How severe is CVE-2021-36493?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.