Apache PDFBox up to 2.0.36/3.0.7 Example PDComplexFileSpecification.getFilename path traversal

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in Apache PDFBox up to 2.0.36/3.0.7. This impacts the function PDComplexFileSpecification.getFilename of the component Example. Performing a manipulation results in path traversal. This vulnerability is identified as CVE-2026-23907. The attack can be initiated remotely. There is not any exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Apache PDFBox up to 2.0.36/3.0.7. This affects the function PDComplexFileSpecification.getFilename of the component Example. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a path traversal vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-22. The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

This issue affects the ExtractEmbeddedFiles example in Apache PDFBox: from 2.0.24 through 2.0.35, from 3.0.0 through 3.0.6. The ExtractEmbeddedFiles example contains a path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) because the filename that is obtained from PDComplexFileSpecification.getFilename() is appended to the extraction path. Users who have copied this example into their production code should review it to ensure that the extraction path is acceptable. The example has been changed accordingly, now the initial path and the extraction paths are converted into canonical paths and it is verified that extraction path contains the initial path. The documentation has also been adjusted.

The weakness was released with Neo4j Security Team. The advisory is shared at github.com. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-23907 since 01/19/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 05/28/2026). MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1006 for this issue.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 301969 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-23907), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (301969) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-1687). If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Affected

• IBM License Metric Tool

Productinfo

Vendor

• Apache

Name

• PDFBox

Version

• 2.0.0
• 2.0.1
• 2.0.2
• 2.0.3
• 2.0.4
• 2.0.5
• 2.0.6
• 2.0.7
• 2.0.8
• 2.0.9
• 2.0.10
• 2.0.11
• 2.0.12
• 2.0.13
• 2.0.14
• 2.0.15
• 2.0.16
• 2.0.17
• 2.0.18
• 2.0.19
• 2.0.20
• 2.0.21
• 2.0.22
• 2.0.23
• 2.0.24
• 2.0.25
• 2.0.26
• 2.0.27
• 2.0.28
• 2.0.29
• 2.0.30
• 2.0.31
• 2.0.32
• 2.0.33
• 2.0.34
• 2.0.35
• 2.0.36
• 3.0.0
• 3.0.1
• 3.0.2
• 3.0.3
• 3.0.4
• 3.0.5
• 3.0.6
• 3.0.7

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.apache.org/

CPE 2.3info

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If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

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