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IrfanviewApplication

CVE-2019-17252

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 →
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 4.53 allows a User Mode Write AV starting at FORMATS!Read_BadPNG+0x0000000000000115.

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 PNG file parsing functionality (FORMATS!Read_BadPNG). A specially crafted malformed PNG file can trigger a write access violation, potentially leading to denial of service (application crash) or potentially remote code execution if the memory corruption is carefully controlled.

MitigationUpgrade IrfanView to a version newer than 4.53 that contains the vendor patch for this vulnerability. Avoid opening untrusted PNG files from unknown sources until the update is applied.

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

CVSS:3.1/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. Confirm IrfanView installation
    Search for IrfanView in Program Files (C:\Program Files\IrfanView or C:\Program Files (x86)\IrfanView) or check Start Menu for IrfanView icon
    Affected if IrfanView is installed on the system
  2. Identify installed IrfanView version
    Right-click the IrfanView executable (i_view32.exe or i_view64.exe), select Properties, and check the Details tab for the version number
    Affected if Version is displayed as exactly 4.53
  3. Verify PNG file support is present
    Open IrfanView and attempt to open any PNG file, or check File > Open dialog to confirm PNG appears in supported formats list
    Affected if PNG files can be opened or are listed as a supported format
  4. Confirm vulnerable component is reachable
    Attempt to load a PNG file through IrfanView using File > Open or drag-and-drop to ensure the FORMATS!Read_BadPNG parsing code path is accessible
    Affected if PNG files can be loaded and parsed by IrfanView

If IrfanView version 4.53 is installed and can open PNG files, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.

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

Upgrade IrfanView to a version newer than 4.53 that contains the vendor patch for this vulnerability. Avoid opening untrusted PNG files from unknown sources until the update is applied.

Fix this in Irfanview Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
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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-2019-17252 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