CVE-2023-35936

Arbitrary file write is possible in Pandoc when using PDF output or --extract-media with untrusted input

MEDIUM
5
CVSS Score
Published: July 5, 2023 at 08:37 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 06:05 AM UTC
3 products affected across 3 vendorsDebian LinuxPandocPandoc

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Severity
MEDIUM5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.4%

Description

Pandoc is a Haskell library for converting from one markup format to another, and a command-line tool that uses this library. Starting in version 1.13 and prior to version 3.1.4, Pandoc is susceptible to an arbitrary file write vulnerability, which can be triggered by providing a specially crafted image element in the input when generating files using the `--extract-media` option or outputting to PDF format. This vulnerability allows an attacker to create or overwrite arbitrary files on the system ,depending on the privileges of the process running pandoc. It only affects systems that pass untrusted user input to pandoc and allow pandoc to be used to produce a PDF or with the `--extract-media` option. The fix is to unescape the percent-encoding prior to checking that the resource is not above the working directory, and prior to extracting the extension. Some code for checking that the path is below the working directory was flawed in a similar way and has also been fixed. Note that the `--sandbox` option, which only affects IO done by readers and writers themselves, does not block this vulnerability. The vulnerability is patched in pandoc 3.1.4. As a workaround, audit the pandoc command and disallow PDF output and the `--extract-media` option.

Affected

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

1.13 ≤ v < 3.1.4
Affected range stops below 3.1.4, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
v < 3.1.4
Affected range stops below 3.1.4, 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

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
HIGH
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
REQUIRED
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
LOW
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-20NVD-CWE-noinfo

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