Vulnerability-Lookup

GHSA-HJ44-M5XV-X75Q

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-04-16 03:31 – Updated: 2026-04-17 18:31

Details

MuPDF mutool does not sanitize PDF metadata fields before writing them to terminal output, allowing attackers to inject arbitrary ANSI escape sequences through crafted PDF metadata. Attackers can embed malicious ANSI escape codes in PDF metadata that are passed unsanitized to the terminal when running mutool info, enabling them to clear the terminal display and render arbitrary text for social engineering attacks such as presenting fake prompts or spoofed commands.

Severity ?

3.3 (Low)


                  
                    CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N

4.8 (Medium)


                  
                    CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Show details on source website

JSON

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{
  "affected": [],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2026-40505"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [
      "CWE-150"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": false,
    "github_reviewed_at": null,
    "nvd_published_at": "2026-04-16T02:16:11Z",
    "severity": "MODERATE"
  },
  "details": "MuPDF mutool does not sanitize PDF metadata fields before writing them to terminal output, allowing attackers to inject arbitrary ANSI escape sequences through crafted PDF metadata. Attackers can embed malicious ANSI escape codes in PDF metadata that are passed unsanitized to the terminal when running mutool info, enabling them to clear the terminal display and render arbitrary text for social engineering attacks such as presenting fake prompts or spoofed commands.",
  "id": "GHSA-hj44-m5xv-x75q",
  "modified": "2026-04-17T18:31:50Z",
  "published": "2026-04-16T03:31:06Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-40505"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/ArtifexSoftware/mupdf/commit/0f17d789fe8c29b41e47663be82514aaca3a4dfb"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://cgit.ghostscript.com/cgi-bin/cgit.cgi/mupdf.git/commit/?id=0f17d789fe8c29b41e47663be82514aaca3a4dfb"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/ArtifexSoftware/mupdf/releases/tag/1.27.0"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/mupdf-mutool-ansi-injection-via-metadata"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    },
    {
      "score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X",
      "type": "CVSS_V4"
    }
  ]
}

CVE-2026-40505 (GCVE-0-2026-40505)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-04-16 01:20 – Updated: 2026-04-17 16:32

Title

MuPDF < 1.27 mutool ANSI Injection via Metadata

Summary

MuPDF before 1.27 contains an ANSI injection vulnerability in mutool that allows attackers to inject arbitrary ANSI escape sequences through crafted PDF metadata fields. Attackers can embed malicious ANSI escape codes in PDF metadata that are passed unsanitized to terminal output when running mutool info, enabling them to manipulate terminal display for social engineering attacks such as presenting fake prompts or spoofed commands.

Severity ?

4.8 (Medium)


                        
                          CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

3.3 (Low)


                        
                          CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N

CWE

CWE-150 - Improper Neutralization of Escape, Meta, or Control Sequences

Assigner

VulnCheck

References

URL

Tags

	https://github.com/ArtifexSoftware/mupdf/releases…	release-notes
	https://github.com/ArtifexSoftware/mupdf/commit/0…	patch
	https://cgit.ghostscript.com/cgi-bin/cgit.cgi/mup…	issue-tracking
	https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/mupdf-mutool…	third-party-advisory

Impacted products

	Vendor	Product	Version
	Artifex Software Inc.	MuPDF	Affected: 0 , < 1.27.0 (semver) Affected: 0f17d789fe8c29b41e47663be82514aaca3a4dfb (git)

Credits

Niel Duysters

Show details on NVD website

JSON

To clipboard

{
  "containers": {
    "adp": [
      {
        "metrics": [
          {
            "other": {
              "content": {
                "id": "CVE-2026-40505",
                "options": [
                  {
                    "Exploitation": "none"
                  },
                  {
                    "Automatable": "no"
                  },
                  {
                    "Technical Impact": "partial"
                  }
                ],
                "role": "CISA Coordinator",
                "timestamp": "2026-04-16T13:53:13.801290Z",
                "version": "2.0.3"
              },
              "type": "ssvc"
            }
          }
        ],
        "providerMetadata": {
          "dateUpdated": "2026-04-16T13:53:40.763Z",
          "orgId": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
          "shortName": "CISA-ADP"
        },
        "title": "CISA ADP Vulnrichment"
      }
    ],
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "MuPDF",
          "vendor": "Artifex Software Inc.",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "1.27.0",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "0f17d789fe8c29b41e47663be82514aaca3a4dfb",
              "versionType": "git"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "credits": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "type": "finder",
          "value": "Niel Duysters"
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "supportingMedia": [
            {
              "base64": false,
              "type": "text/html",
              "value": "\u003cp\u003eMuPDF before 1.27 contains an ANSI injection vulnerability in mutool that allows attackers to inject arbitrary ANSI escape sequences through crafted PDF metadata fields. Attackers can embed malicious ANSI escape codes in PDF metadata that are passed unsanitized to terminal output when running mutool info, enabling them to manipulate terminal display for social engineering attacks such as presenting fake prompts or spoofed commands.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"
            }
          ],
          "value": "MuPDF before 1.27 contains an ANSI injection vulnerability in mutool that allows attackers to inject arbitrary ANSI escape sequences through crafted PDF metadata fields. Attackers can embed malicious ANSI escape codes in PDF metadata that are passed unsanitized to terminal output when running mutool info, enabling them to manipulate terminal display for social engineering attacks such as presenting fake prompts or spoofed commands."
        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "cvssV4_0": {
            "Automatable": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "Recovery": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "Safety": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "attackComplexity": "LOW",
            "attackRequirements": "NONE",
            "attackVector": "LOCAL",
            "baseScore": 4.8,
            "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
            "exploitMaturity": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
            "providerUrgency": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "subAvailabilityImpact": "NONE",
            "subConfidentialityImpact": "NONE",
            "subIntegrityImpact": "NONE",
            "userInteraction": "PASSIVE",
            "valueDensity": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N",
            "version": "4.0",
            "vulnAvailabilityImpact": "NONE",
            "vulnConfidentialityImpact": "NONE",
            "vulnIntegrityImpact": "LOW",
            "vulnerabilityResponseEffort": "NOT_DEFINED"
          },
          "format": "CVSS",
          "scenarios": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "value": "GENERAL"
            }
          ]
        },
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            "attackComplexity": "LOW",
            "attackVector": "LOCAL",
            "availabilityImpact": "NONE",
            "baseScore": 3.3,
            "baseSeverity": "LOW",
            "confidentialityImpact": "NONE",
            "integrityImpact": "LOW",
            "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
            "scope": "UNCHANGED",
            "userInteraction": "REQUIRED",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N",
            "version": "3.1"
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          "scenarios": [
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              "lang": "en",
              "value": "GENERAL"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "problemTypes": [
        {
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "cweId": "CWE-150",
              "description": "CWE-150 Improper Neutralization of Escape, Meta, or Control Sequences",
              "lang": "en",
              "type": "CWE"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-04-17T16:32:45.810Z",
        "orgId": "83251b91-4cc7-4094-a5c7-464a1b83ea10",
        "shortName": "VulnCheck"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "tags": [
            "release-notes"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/ArtifexSoftware/mupdf/releases/tag/1.27.0"
        },
        {
          "tags": [
            "patch"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/ArtifexSoftware/mupdf/commit/0f17d789fe8c29b41e47663be82514aaca3a4dfb"
        },
        {
          "tags": [
            "issue-tracking"
          ],
          "url": "https://cgit.ghostscript.com/cgi-bin/cgit.cgi/mupdf.git/commit/?id=0f17d789fe8c29b41e47663be82514aaca3a4dfb"
        },
        {
          "tags": [
            "third-party-advisory"
          ],
          "url": "https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/mupdf-mutool-ansi-injection-via-metadata"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "discovery": "EXTERNAL"
      },
      "title": "MuPDF \u003c 1.27 mutool ANSI Injection via Metadata",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "Vulnogram 1.0.1"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "83251b91-4cc7-4094-a5c7-464a1b83ea10",
    "assignerShortName": "VulnCheck",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-40505",
    "datePublished": "2026-04-16T01:20:08.397Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-04-13T20:29:02.808Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-04-17T16:32:45.810Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}

Sightings

Author	Source	Type	Date

Nomenclature

Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.

Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.

Action not permitted

GHSA-HJ44-M5XV-X75Q

CVE-2026-40505 (GCVE-0-2026-40505)

Tags

Sightings

Nomenclature