CVE-2020-23557
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!ShowPlugInSaveOptions_W+0x000000000000755d.
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 confidenceIrfanView 4.54 contains a user-mode write access violation vulnerability in the FORMATS module at the ShowPlugInSaveOptions_W function. This memory corruption issue can be triggered when processing specially crafted image files, potentially allowing an attacker to write to arbitrary memory locations and achieve code execution within the context of the current user.
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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Verify IrfanView installationCheck for IrfanView installation by looking in typical installation directories (e.g., C:\Program Files\IrfanView or C:\Program Files (x86)\IrfanView) or by searching for irfanview.exe in the systemAffected if IrfanView is installed on the system
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Determine installed versionRight-click on irfanview.exe, select Properties, and check the Details tab for the File Version, or run 'irfanview.exe /?' and look at the version information displayedAffected if The installed version is exactly 4.54 (no other version is listed as affected)
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Confirm vulnerable feature usageThe vulnerability resides in the FORMATS module's ShowPlugInSaveOptions_W function and is triggered when processing specially crafted image files. This occurs during image format parsing when using the Save PlugIn optionsAffected if A specially crafted malicious image file is opened/processed using IrfanView version 4.54, causing memory corruption in the FORMATS module
A user is affected if they have IrfanView version 4.54 installed AND open/process specially crafted malicious image files, as the memory corruption requires both the vulnerable version and the specific trigger condition.
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 dataUpgrade IrfanView to the latest patched version. Avoid opening untrusted or unknown image files until the update is applied, as the vulnerability is likely triggered during image format parsing.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-23557 — 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-2020-23557 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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