Software:Xpdf

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Xpdf
Xpdf logo.svg
Xpdf 4.0 screenshot.png
XpdfReader 4.0 screenshot
Developer(s)Glyph & Cog
Initial releaseDecember 12, 1995; 28 years ago (1995-12-12)
Operating systemLinux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD, OpenVMS
TypePDF viewer
LicenseGPL-2.0-only[1] or GPL-3.0-only[2] or proprietary[3][4]
Websitexpdfreader.com

Xpdf is a free and open-source PDF viewer and toolkit based on the Qt framework.[3] Versions prior to 4.00 were written for the X Window System and Motif.[5]

Functions

Xpdf runs on nearly any Unix-like operating system. Binaries are also available for Windows. Xpdf can decode LZW and read encrypted PDFs. The official version obeys the DRM restrictions of PDF files,[6] which can prevent copying, printing, or converting some PDF files.[3] There are patches that make Xpdf ignore these DRM restrictions,[7]; the Debian distribution for example has these patches in place by default.[8]

Xpdf includes several programs that don't need an X Window System, including some that extract images from PDF files or convert PDF to PostScript or text. These programs run on DOS, Windows, Linux and Unix.[3]

Xpdf is also used as a back-end for other PDF readers frontends such as KPDF and GPDF,[5] and its engine, without the X11 display components, is used for PDF viewers including BePDF on BeOS, '!PDF' on RISC OS, on PalmPDF[9] on Palm OS[3] and on Windows Mobile.[10]

Two versions exist for AmigaOS. Xpdf needs a limited version of an X11 engine called Cygnix on the host system. AmigaOS 4 included AmiPDF, a PDF viewer based on 3.01 version of the Xpdf. However both Apdf and AmiPDF are native and need no X11.

xpdf-utils

The associated package "xpdf-utils" or "poppler-utils" contains tools such as pdftotext and pdfimages.

Exploit

A vulnerability in the Xpdf implementation of the JBIG2 file format, re-used in Apple's iOS phone operating software, was used by the Pegasus spyware to implement a zero-click attack on iPhones by constructing an emulated computer architecture inside a JBIG2 stream. Apple fixed this "FORCEDENTRY" vulnerability in iOS 14.8 in September 2021.[11]

See also

Notes and references

  1. about on foolabs.com "Xpdf is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL), version 2. In my opinion, the GPL is a convoluted, confusing, ambiguous mess. But it's also pervasive, and I'm sick of arguing. And even if it is confusing, the basic idea is good. "
  2. xpdf xpdf 3.03 "The license was changed from GPLv2 to dual v2/v3 licensing."
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Xpdf website
  4. Glyph & Cog, LLC: Xpdf
  5. 5.0 5.1 Polzer, Leslie (2006-11-28). "A survey of Linux PDF viewers". SourceForge, Inc.. http://www.linux.com/feature/58592. 
  6. Xpdf - Cracking
  7. Generic Xpdf Patch Instructions
  8. Okular, Debian, and copy restrictions
  9. PalmPDF
  10. PocketXpdf
  11. Beer, Ian; Groß, Samuel (2021-12-15). "Project Zero: A deep dive into an NSO zero-click iMessage exploit: Remote Code Execution". https://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2021/12/a-deep-dive-into-nso-zero-click.html. 

Sources

External links