CVE-2013-3248
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedUntrusted search path vulnerability in Corel PDF Fusion 1.11 allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse wintab32.dll file in the current working directory, as demonstrated by a directory that contains a .pdf or .xps file.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceCorel PDF Fusion 1.11 is vulnerable to DLL hijacking via an untrusted search path. When the application opens a .pdf or .xps file from a directory containing a malicious wintab32.dll, it loads the Trojan horse DLL from the current working directory instead of a trusted system location, executing arbitrary code with the application's privileges.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 1.11CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Corel PDF Fusion versionOpen Windows Programs and Features (appwiz.cpl) and locate Corel PDF Fusion, or check the executable properties at the default install path (usually C:\Program Files\Corel\PDF Fusion\)Affected if The installed version is exactly 1.11
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Confirm vulnerable DLL loading behavior existsThis is inherent to version 1.11 - the application loads wintab32.dll from the current working directory when opening .pdf or .xps files rather than using secure system DLL paths. No configuration check needed; the flaw is present by default in this version.Affected if Version 1.11 is installed and the application exhibits this DLL loading behavior
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Determine if files are opened from untrusted directoriesMonitor user behavior or audit file opening workflows to identify whether users open PDF/XPS files from directories where untrusted parties could place files (such as downloaded files, network shares, or shared folders).Affected if Users open PDF/XPS files using Corel PDF Fusion 1.11 from directories that could contain a malicious wintab32.dll
The environment is affected if Corel PDF Fusion version 1.11 is installed and users open PDF/XPS files from directories where an attacker could place a malicious wintab32.dll.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUsers should avoid opening PDF/XPS files from untrusted or shared directories. Organizations can deploy application whitelisting and monitor for suspicious DLLs in file directories. The vendor would need to patch the application to use secure DLL loading paths (e.g., Safe DLL Search Mode, explicit paths).
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-3248 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2013-3248 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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