Service interruption via backtracking RGB color regex
Published Oct 8, 2024 · Updated Jul 5, 2026
Regular expression denial of service in xhtml2pdf 0.2.13 allows remote attackers to interrupt PDF conversion via crafted HTML. The getColor function in xhtml2pdf/util.py searches unbounded color text with rgb_re, whose repeated wildcard and digit groups trigger excessive backtracking on a long malformed RGB value. Exploitation requires processing attacker-controlled HTML and consumes CPU during color parsing, delaying or hanging PDF conversion without reported data access or modification.
Summary
What happened
Regular expression denial of service in xhtml2pdf 0.2.13 allows remote attackers to interrupt PDF conversion via crafted HTML. The getColor function in xhtml2pdf/util.py searches unbounded color text with rgb_re, whose repeated wildcard and digit groups trigger excessive backtracking on a long malformed RGB value. Exploitation requires processing attacker-controlled HTML and consumes CPU during color parsing, delaying or hanging PDF conversion without reported data access or modification.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-25885
- Published
- Oct 8, 2024
- Updated
- Jul 5, 2026
- Vendor
- xhtml2pdf
- Product
- xhtml2pdf
- Classifications
- CWE-1333, CAPEC-492, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Oct 8, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jul 5, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0.2.13
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Crafted RGB color ReDoS proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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