Rapid7’s 2026 Global Cybersecurity Summit is now available on-demand.Watch sessions.
Rapid7

vulnerability

Debian: CVE-2021-3838: php-dompdf -- security update

Severity
10
CVSS
(AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C)
Published
Jul 17, 2023
Added
Jul 17, 2023
Modified
Mar 30, 2026

Description

DomPDF before version 2.0.0 is vulnerable to PHAR deserialization due to a lack of checking on the protocol before passing it into the file_get_contents() function. An attacker who can upload files of any type to the server can pass in the phar:// protocol to unserialize the uploaded file and instantiate arbitrary PHP objects. This can lead to remote code execution, especially when DOMPdf is used with frameworks with documented POP chains like Laravel or vulnerable developer code.

Solution

debian-upgrade-php-dompdf
Title
Rapid7 Labs

2026 Global Threat Landscape Report

The predictive window has collapsed. Exploitation follows disclosure in days. See how attackers are accelerating and how to stay ahead.