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IrfanviewApplication

CVE-2019-17245

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-10-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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 4.53 allows a User Mode Write AV starting at WSQ!ReadWSQ+0x0000000000004359.

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 4.53 contains a User Mode Write Access Violation vulnerability in its WSQ (Wavelet Scalar Quantization) image format parser (WSQ!ReadWSQ function). The vulnerability allows memory corruption during WSQ file processing, potentially enabling code execution if a specially crafted malicious WSQ file is opened.

MitigationDo not open untrusted WSQ files in IrfanView until a vendor patch is available; consider using enterprise endpoint protection to scan files before opening.

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:= 4.53

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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. Confirm IrfanView version 4.53 is installed
    Open IrfanView and go to Help > About, or check the executable file properties (irfanview.exe) in Program Files. Alternatively, query the Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\IrfanView or check the file version via PowerShell: (Get-Item 'C:\Program Files\IrfanView\irfanview.exe').VersionInfo.FileVersion
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 4.53
  2. Verify WSQ format support is present
    Check if the WSQ plugin file (wsq.dll or similar) exists in the IrfanView plugins folder, typically located at C:\Program Files\IrfanView\Plugins\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\IrfanView\Plugins\
    Affected if The WSQ plugin file exists in the plugins directory, enabling WSQ format parsing
  3. Confirm WSQ is an active supported format
    In IrfanView, go to Options > Properties/Settings > Plugins, or attempt to open a WSQ file to verify the format is recognized and processed by the ReadWSQ function
    Affected if WSQ files can be opened and processed by IrfanView, indicating the vulnerable code path is reachable

You are affected if IrfanView version 4.53 is installed with WSQ format support enabled, as the ReadWSQ function contains the memory corruption vulnerability when processing crafted WSQ files.

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

Do not open untrusted WSQ files in IrfanView until a vendor patch is available; consider using enterprise endpoint protection to scan files before opening.

Fix this in Irfanview Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
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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-2019-17245 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
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