CVE-2017-15256
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 · uneditedIrfanView 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 "Data from Faulting Address controls Branch Selection starting at PDF!xmlListWalk+0x0000000000019fc8."
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 confidenceIrfanView 4.44 with PDF plugin 4.43 contains a memory corruption vulnerability when parsing crafted PDF files. The vulnerability allows an attacker to control branch selection through faulting address data, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution or denial of service. The attack is triggered by opening a specially crafted PDF file.
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= 4.43= 4.44CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm IrfanView installationCheck if IrfanView is installed on the system by looking for irfanview.exe in typical installation directories such as C:\Program Files\IrfanView or C:\Program Files (x86)\IrfanView, or search for the executable using the system file explorer or command-line tools.Affected if IrfanView is not installed on the system
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Identify IrfanView versionRight-click on irfanview.exe, select Properties, and view the Details tab to see the File Version. Alternatively, open IrfanView and go to Help > About to display the version number.Affected if The installed version is 4.44 (this version is within the affected range)
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Confirm PDF plugin presenceCheck for the PDF plugin file (i_view32_pdf.dll or similar) in the IrfanView plugins folder, typically located at C:\Program Files\IrfanView\Plugins or C:\Program Files (x86)\IrfanView\Plugins.Affected if The PDF plugin file is not present in the plugins directory
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Identify PDF plugin versionRight-click on the PDF plugin DLL file in the plugins folder, select Properties, and view the Details tab to see the File Version. Alternatively, open IrfanView and go to Help > About, then click the Plugins button to list installed plugins and their versions.Affected if The PDF plugin version is exactly 4.43 (this version is within the affected range)
The system is affected if IrfanView version 4.44 is installed together with the PDF plugin version 4.43, as this specific combination contains the vulnerability described in the CVE.
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 dataUpdate IrfanView and its PDF plugin to the latest versions. Avoid opening PDF files from untrusted sources and consider using application sandboxing or a virtualized environment for viewing untrusted PDFs.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-15256 — 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-2017-15256 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data