CVE-2019-5067

Vulnerability

An uninitialized memory access vulnerability exists in Aspose.PDF 19.2 for C++ when handling invalid parent object pointers in PDF documents. Specifically, a malformed Parent reference with a negative generation number (e.g., /Parent 1 -1 R) triggers an exception but leaves memory in an uninitialized state, leading to read and write operations on uninitialized memory [1]. The affected version is Aspose.PDF 19.2 for C++.

Exploitation

An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by crafting a PDF document containing a malformed object with a Parent pointer that has a negative generation number. The target application must process the PDF using the vulnerable Aspose.PDF library. No authentication or user interaction beyond opening the document is required. The vulnerability is triggered during the rendering of the page, where the library attempts to access the parent object and subsequently reads from uninitialized memory [1].

Impact

Successful exploitation can result in memory corruption, potentially allowing arbitrary code execution in the context of the application processing the PDF. Given the CVSSv3 score of 9.8, the vulnerability has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability [1].

Mitigation

As of the publication date of the advisory (September 18, 2019), no official fix was available. Users should monitor Aspose for security updates and consider upgrading to a patched version when released. No workarounds are documented in the available reference [1].