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No exploitation reportedFix available

CVE-2020-27778

No exploitation reported by the sources we read.

  • Published2020-12-03
  • WeaknessCWE-824

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

A flaw was found in Poppler in the way certain PDF files were converted into HTML. A remote attacker could exploit this flaw by providing a malicious PDF file that, when processed by the 'pdftohtml' program, would crash the application causing a denial of service.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2020-12-0317:15CVE publishedNVD

Versions per branch

NVD
Debian debian linux
BranchAffectedFixed in
10.0= 10.0no fix published
Freedesktop poppler
BranchAffectedFixed in
0.76< 0.76.00.76.0
Redhat enterprise linux
BranchAffectedFixed in
8.0= 8.0no fix published

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Distribution builds and vendor advisories

Packages from OSV.dev and products from the vendors' CSAF advisories.

version not verifiedVersions not verified: read as OSV.dev and the vendors publish them, not checked against each vendor's release list.

Packages

  • evinceRocky Linux:8all versions · fixed in 0:3.28.4-11.el8
  • evinceRed Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstreamall versions · fixed in 0:3.28.4-11.el8and 8 other packages
  • evince-develRed Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crball versions · fixed in 0:3.28.4-11.el8and 5 other packages
  • evince-develAlmaLinux:8all versions · fixed in 3.28.4-11.el8
  • popplerUbuntu:18.04:LTSall versions · fixed in 0.62.0-2ubuntu2.11
  • popplerUbuntu:16.04:LTSall versions · fixed in 0.41.0-0ubuntu1.15
  • popplerSUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP2all versions · fixed in 0.62.0-4.6.1
  • popplerSUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP5all versions · fixed in 0.24.4-14.20.2

39 more package ranges on OSV.dev

Vendor advisories

  • CVE-2020-27778 Red Hat Product Security178 products fixed · 22 known affected

    poppler: pdftohtml: access to uninitialized pointer could lead to DoS

    poppler.src as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 · poppler as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 · poppler-devel as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 · +19 more

  • RHSA-2021:1881 Red Hat Product Security178 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: poppler and evince security, bug fix, and enhancement update

Full record on NVD

Fix

  1. Vendor fix Red Hat Product Security RHSA-2021:1881 · 178 productsFor details on how to apply this update, which includes the changes described in this advisory, refer to: https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258
  2. No fix planned, says the vendor Red Hat Product Security CVE-2020-27778 · 22 productsOut of support scope

Advisories and patches

Detection

Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof of concept
Metasploit modules
none listed
Metasploit Framework

Sources

  • NVDCVSS 3.17.5read 2026-10-23
  • NVDCVSS 2.05read 2026-10-23
  • CNAweakness (CWE)CWE-824known since 2026-10-23
  • NVDweakness (CWE)CWE-824read 2026-10-23
  • FIRST EPSSEPSS score2.0 %2026-11-08
  • OSVaffected packages—
  • GitHub Advisoriesadvisory—

Identifiers

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Published
2020-12-03
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Modified
GitHub Advisory
GHSA-9f25-w4h3-5q5x

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2020-27778?

A flaw was found in Poppler in the way certain PDF files were converted into HTML. A remote attacker could exploit this flaw by providing a malicious PDF file that, when processed by the 'pdftohtml' program, would crash the application causing a denial of service.

Is CVE-2020-27778 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2020-27778 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 2.0% on 2026-11-08, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2020-27778?

CVE-2020-27778 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.5 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

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