dbcve.org
IrfanviewApplication

CVE-2020-23559

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-09-16
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 4.54 allows a user-mode write access violation starting at FORMATS!ShowPlugInSaveOptions_W+0x0000000000007d7f.

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 4.54 contains a user-mode write access violation in the FORMATS plugin's ShowPlugInSaveOptions function. This is a memory corruption vulnerability that allows writing to arbitrary memory locations, likely due to insufficient bounds checking when handling image format save options.

MitigationUpgrade IrfanView to a version that addresses this vulnerability. If an update is unavailable, restrict or disable use of the FORMATS plugin's save functionality until a patched version is released.

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:= 4.54

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. Check IrfanView version
    Open IrfanView and go to Help > About, or right-click the IrfanView executable (i_view32.exe or i_view64.exe) and select Properties > Details to view the File Version
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 4.54
  2. Locate the FORMATS plugin
    Navigate to the IrfanView plugins folder (typically C:\Program Files\IrfanView\Plugins or C:\Program Files (x86)\IrfanView\Plugins) and look for formats.dll or a similar FORMATS plugin file
    Affected if The FORMATS plugin file exists in the plugins directory
  3. Verify FORMATS plugin is loaded
    Open IrfanView, try to save an image in a format handled by the FORMATS plugin (such as certain image formats that require external plugins), or check File > Save As to see available format options that would invoke the plugin
    Affected if The FORMATS plugin is accessible and can be invoked through the save options dialog

You are affected if the installed IrfanView version is exactly 4.54 and the FORMATS plugin (formats.dll) is present and usable on the system.

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 that addresses this vulnerability. If an update is unavailable, restrict or disable use of the FORMATS plugin's save functionality until a patched version is released.

Fix this in Irfanview Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,224.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-23559 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2020-23559 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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