CVE-2021-29475

PDF export allows arbitrary file reads

CRITICAL
10
CVSS Score
Published: April 26, 2021 at 06:58 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 03:47 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorHedgedoc

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Severity
CRITICAL10
Exploit prediction
EPSS 1%

Description

HedgeDoc (formerly known as CodiMD) is an open-source collaborative markdown editor. An attacker is able to receive arbitrary files from the file system when exporting a note to PDF. Since the code injection has to take place as note content, there fore this exploit requires the attackers ability to modify a note. This will affect all instances, which have pdf export enabled. This issue has been fixed by https://github.com/hedgedoc/hedgedoc/commit/c1789474020a6d668d616464cb2da5e90e123f65 and is available in version 1.5.0. Starting the CodiMD/HedgeDoc instance with `CMD_ALLOW_PDF_EXPORT=false` or set `"allowPDFExport": false` in config.json can mitigate this issue for those who cannot upgrade. This exploit works because while PhantomJS doesn't actually render the `file:///` references to the PDF file itself, it still uses them internally, and exfiltration is possible, and easy through JavaScript rendering. The impact is pretty bad, as the attacker is able to read the CodiMD/HedgeDoc `config.json` file as well any other files on the filesystem. Even though the suggested Docker deploy option doesn't have many interesting files itself, the `config.json` still often contains sensitive information, database credentials, and maybe OAuth secrets among other things.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 1.5.0
Affected range stops below 1.5.0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

CVSS

10CRITICALGitHub_M
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
CHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
NONE
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-94CWE-918

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