CVE-2023-38745 — Pandoc before 3
Pandoc before 3.1.6 allows arbitrary file write: this can be triggered by providing a crafted image element in the input when generating files via the --extract-media option or outputting to PDF format. This allows an attacker to create or overwrite arbitrary files, depending on
Published
2023-07-25T00:00:00.000Z
Last modified
2025-11-04T18:16:11.290Z
01What is this vulnerability?
Pandoc before 3.1.6 allows arbitrary file write: this can be triggered by providing a crafted image element in the input when generating files via the --extract-media option or outputting to PDF format. This allows an attacker to create or overwrite arbitrary files, depending on the privileges of the process running Pandoc. It only affects systems that pass untrusted user input to Pandoc and…
02Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|
| n | a / n/a | n/a |
03Active exploitation status
Not currently listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. EPSS is the best forward-looking signal — see the EPSS row above.
04Recommended remediation
- Patch to a fixed version listed in the vendor advisory (see references below).
- Mitigate with WAF rules, network egress filters, or feature flags where the patch is not yet available.
- Hunt historical logs for exploitation indicators — see Detection signatures below.
05Technical details
For the full vendor write-up, exploit chains, and reference implementations, see the references list in section 09.
06Detection signatures
Open the Sigma generator with a pre-filled prompt for this CVE to draft a starting detection in your stack of choice:
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07Related CVEs
No directly-cited follow-up CVEs in the KB record for this advisory. The references list in section 09 carries the vendor cross-references.
08Timeline
- Published: 2023-07-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Last modified: 2025-11-04T18:16:11.290Z
09References
- github.com — https://github.com/jgm/pandoc/commit/eddedbfc14916aa06fc01ff04b38aeb30ae2e625
- github.com — https://github.com/jgm/pandoc/compare/3.1.5...3.1.6
- lists.debian.org — https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/07/msg00029.html
- lists.fedoraproject.org — https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedorapro…
- lists.fedoraproject.org — https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedorapro…
- lists.fedoraproject.org — https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedorapro…
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