CVE-2026-33929

Apache PDFBox Examples: Path Traversal in PDFBox ExtractEmbeddedFiles Example Code

MEDIUM
4.3
CVSS Score
Published: April 14, 2026 at 08:09 AM UTC
Updated: October 26, 2026 at 10:10 PM UTC
2 products affected across 1 vendorPdfboxPdfbox Examples

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Severity
MEDIUM4.3
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.7%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in Apache PDFBox Examples. This issue affects the ExtractEmbeddedFiles example in Apache PDFBox: from 2.0.24 through 2.0.36, from 3.0.0 through 3.0.7. Users are recommended to update to version 2.0.37 or 3.0.8 once available. Until then, they should apply the fix provided in GitHub PR 427. The ExtractEmbeddedFiles example contained a path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) mentioned in CVE-2026-23907. However the change in the releases 2.0.36 and 3.0.7 is flawed because it doesn't consider the file path separator. Because of that, a user having writing rights on /home/ABC could be victim to a malicious PDF resulting in a write attempt to any path starting with /home/ABC, e.g. "/home/ABCDEF". Users who have copied this example into their production code should apply the mentioned change. The example has been changed accordingly and is available in the project repository.

Affected

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

2.0.24 ≤ v < 2.0.373.0.0 ≤ v < 3.0.8
2.0.24 ≤ v ≤ 2.0.363.0.0 ≤ v ≤ 3.0.72.0.243.0.0

Remediation

No guide yet

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

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

4.3MEDIUMCISA-ADP
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
LOW
Availability
NONE
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusANALYZED
CWE
CWE-22

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