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CVE-2018-17407

26
FAUCET Score

CVE-2018-17407 is a buffer overflow vulnerability in TeX Live before 2018-09-21, specifically within the t1_check_unusual_charstring functions, affecting tools like pdflatex, pdftex, dvips, and luatex. This flaw allows for arbitrary code execution when a malicious Type 1 font is loaded. Rated 7.8 HIGH, it requires user interaction (UI:R) to load a malicious font, but once triggered, it can lead to high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H). While not listed in CISA KEV and lacking public Metasploit or ExploitDB modules, there is community discussion and media coverage, including an article detailing its exploitation, indicating awareness and potential for targeted attacks.

Impacted Technologies

VendorProductVersion(s)CPE
< 2018-09-21CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:tug:tex_live:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
14.04CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
16.04CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
18.04CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
18.10CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

CVSS Data

CVSS version used by this source: 3.0

7.8HIGH

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
REQUIRED
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact
HIGH
Integrity Impact
HIGH
Availability Impact
HIGH
Exploitability Score
1.8
Impact Score
5.9
CvssVersion
3.0

Exploit Intelligence

EPSS Score
2.06%
Probability of exploitation in next 30 days
EPSS Percentile
79.3%
Percentile rank of EPSS score among Peer Group
As of 2026-07-25
Model: v2026.06.15
This CVE's current EPSS score of 0.0206 is in the 79th percentile among its peer group of 11,616 CVEs.

Social Chatter

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.0 Twitter, 0.1 Reddit, 0.1 Bluesky, 0.0 Mastodon, and 0.2 GitHub mentions.

Media Mentions

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.3 InfoSec Media, 0.0 Vendor Blog, and 0.0 Security Researcher mentions.

Remediation

Patch Available

Vendor Patches (3)

github_advisorypatch availablevia nvd_reference
View patch
redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7Fixed in: texlive-2:2012-45.20130427_r30134.el7
View patch
redhatend of lifevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6Fixed in: texlive

Vendor Advisories (1)

redhatCVE-2018-17407Moderate

texlive: Buffer overflow in t1_check_unusual_charstring function in writet1.c

Sep 23, 2018

References

github.com / TeX-Live/texlive-source/commit/6ed0077520e2b0da1fd060c7f88db7b2e6068e4c
PatchThird Party Advisory
lists.debian.org / debian-security-announce/2018/msg00230.html
Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
usn.ubuntu.com / 3788-1
Third Party Advisory
usn.ubuntu.com / 3788-2
Third Party Advisory
debian.org / security/2018/dsa-4299
Third Party Advisory