CVE-2018-14946

Vulnerability

PDF2JSON version 0.69 contains a memory management mismatch in the HtmlString class within ImgOutputDev.cc [1][2]. Memory allocated with malloc is freed using operator delete, violating the C++ standard and leading to undefined behavior.

Exploitation

An attacker can trigger the vulnerability by providing a specially crafted PDF file to PDF2JSON, causing the ~HtmlString destructor to be called during HtmlPage::coalesce() and ImgOutputDev::endPage(). The ASAN report confirms the mismatch occurs when processing the crafted PDF [1][2].

Impact

Successful exploitation could result in memory corruption, potentially leading to denial of service or, in some cases, arbitrary code execution. The exact impact depends on the heap layout and the attacker's ability to control the freed memory.

Mitigation

As of the available references, no official fix has been released for PDF2JSON 0.69. Users should consider using an alternative tool or apply manual patches to ensure consistent memory management (e.g., using new instead of malloc for objects of class HtmlString). The project appears to be unmaintained [1][2].