CVE-2020-23552
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 4.54 allows a user-mode write access violation starting at FORMATS!GetPlugInInfo+0x0000000000007e62.
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 4.54 contains a user-mode write access violation vulnerability in the FORMATS plugin (GetPlugInInfo function). This indicates a memory corruption issue where the application attempts to write to an invalid memory location, potentially allowing an attacker to achieve code execution via a specially crafted image file processed by the vulnerable plugin.
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= 4.54CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify IrfanView installation locationLocate the IrfanView executable (i_view64.exe for 64-bit or i_view32.exe for 32-bit) on the system, typically in C:\Program Files\IrfanView or C:\Program Files (x86)\IrfanViewAffected if IrfanView is installed on the system
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Check installed IrfanView versionRight-click the IrfanView executable, select Properties, and review the File Version on the Details tab. Alternatively, open IrfanView and navigate to Help > AboutAffected if Version is exactly 4.54
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Verify FORMATS plugin is presentNavigate to the plugins folder within the IrfanView installation directory (typically named 'Plugins' or 'plugins') and confirm the existence of formats.dll or a similar FORMATS plugin fileAffected if FORMATS plugin exists in the plugins folder
A user is affected if IrfanView version 4.54 is installed with the FORMATS plugin present and untrusted image files are processed through the vulnerable GetPlugInInfo function.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade IrfanView to a version newer than 4.54 where the vulnerability has been patched; until then, avoid opening untrusted image files with IrfanView.
IrfanView 4.57 or latest stable version
- 1. Navigate to the official IrfanView website at www.irfanview.com
- 2. Download the latest stable version of IrfanView (version 4.57 or higher)
- 3. Uninstall the current version 4.54 from your system
- 4. Install the newly downloaded version
- 5. Verify the installation was successful and the application runs without errors
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-23552 — 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-2020-23552 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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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.
- 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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