CVE-2013-3718 in Evince
Summary
by MITRE
evince is missing a check on number of pages which can lead to a segmentation fault
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/01/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-3718 affects the evince document viewer application, which is commonly used in linux desktop environments for viewing pdf and other document formats. This issue stems from insufficient validation of page count parameters within the application's document processing routines, creating a potential avenue for denial of service attacks through carefully crafted malformed documents. The vulnerability specifically manifests when evince attempts to process documents with an excessive number of pages, leading to a segmentation fault that causes the application to crash and terminate unexpectedly.
The technical flaw resides in the evince application's failure to properly validate input parameters when processing document page counts, representing a classic case of inadequate bounds checking that aligns with CWE-129 weakness classification. When a document is loaded that contains an invalid or excessively large page count value, the application does not perform proper range validation before attempting to allocate memory or process page data structures. This absence of input validation creates a condition where the application's memory management routines encounter unexpected values that cause memory corruption and subsequent segmentation fault errors.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple application instability, as it can be exploited by malicious actors to disrupt document viewing services in environments where evince is the primary document viewer. In enterprise settings or public systems where users might encounter untrusted documents, this vulnerability could be leveraged to cause denial of service against legitimate users attempting to access documents. The segmentation fault occurs during normal document processing operations, making it particularly dangerous as it can be triggered simply by opening a maliciously crafted document without requiring any special privileges or complex exploitation techniques.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2013-3718 should focus on implementing proper input validation within the evince application's document parsing routines, establishing reasonable limits on page count parameters, and ensuring that memory allocation operations include proper bounds checking. System administrators should prioritize applying security patches from upstream maintainers or distribution vendors that address this specific validation issue. Additionally, implementing document sanitization processes that validate document integrity before processing can provide an additional layer of protection. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to technique T1499.004 (Authentication Bypass) and T1059.007 (Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell) as it represents a denial of service vector that can be exploited through document manipulation, though the primary impact remains in the application crash rather than privilege escalation. Organizations should also consider implementing network-level filtering to prevent potentially malicious documents from reaching end-user systems, particularly in environments where document trust levels cannot be guaranteed.