IrfanviewApplication

CVE-2017-15240

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-10-11
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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 · unedited
IrfanView version 4.44 (32bit) with PDF plugin version 4.43 allows attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted .pdf file, related to a "Read Access Violation starting at PDF!xmlParserInputRead+0x0000000000132cef."

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 · moderate confidence

IrfanView 4.44 (32-bit) with PDF plugin version 4.43 contains a memory corruption vulnerability in the xmlParserInputRead function. A specially crafted PDF file triggers a read access violation, leading to denial of service or potentially arbitrary code execution.

MitigationAvoid opening untrusted or unverified PDF files in IrfanView, and update the PDF plugin to the latest version when a patch becomes available from the vendor.

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
IrfanviewApplication
Affected:= 4.44
PdfApplication
Affected:= 4.43

CVSS 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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify IrfanView installed version
    Check the installed IrfanView version through the application's Help > About dialog, or inspect the version property of the IrfanView executable file
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 4.44 (32-bit)
  2. Verify PDF plugin version
    Locate the PDF plugin file (typically named something like PDF.dll or similar plugin file in the IrfanView plugins directory) and check its file version property, or check the plugin version through IrfanView's Plugins menu if available
    Affected if The PDF plugin version is exactly 4.43
  3. Confirm system architecture
    Check if the installed IrfanView is the 32-bit variant by examining the program files directory path (typically in 'Program Files (x86)' for 32-bit apps on 64-bit Windows) or the executable properties
    Affected if IrfanView is the 32-bit version installed on the system
  4. Check for PDF file handling capability
    Verify that the PDF plugin is loaded and functional by attempting to open a PDF file in IrfanView, or check if the PDF plugin DLL exists in the IrfanView plugins directory
    Affected if The PDF plugin is present and IrfanView can open PDF files

A system is affected if it runs IrfanView version 4.44 (32-bit) with PDF plugin version 4.43 and uses the PDF viewing capability.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Avoid opening untrusted or unverified PDF files in IrfanView, and update the PDF plugin to the latest version when a patch becomes available from the vendor.

Fix this in Irfanview Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-15240 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-15240 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data