CVE-2022-42387
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 · uneditedThis vulnerability allows remote attackers to disclose sensitive information on affected installations of PDF-XChange Editor. User interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability in that the target must visit a malicious page or open a malicious file. The specific flaw exists within the parsing of U3D files. Crafted data in a U3D file can trigger a read past the end of an allocated buffer. An attacker can leverage this in conjunction with other vulnerabilities to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-18656.
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 confidenceThis is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in PDF-XChange Editor's U3D (3D PDF) file parser. Crafted data in a malicious U3D file triggers a read past the end of an allocated buffer, enabling information disclosure. While the CVSS indicates this as an information disclosure issue, the description notes it can be chained with other vulnerabilities to achieve arbitrary code execution.
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< 9.5.366.0CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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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Confirm PDF-XChange Editor is installedCheck the system for PDF-XChange Editor installation by looking in standard program installation directories or using system inventory toolsAffected if PDF-XChange Editor is present on the system
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Determine the installed versionLocate the version information through the program's About dialog, installation directory metadata, or system registry entriesAffected if The installed version is lower than 9.5.366.0
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Verify U3D file processing capabilityConfirm that the U3D (3D PDF) parser module is available in the installation - this is typically included in standard PDF-XChange Editor buildsAffected if The U3D parser component exists and can be invoked when opening a U3D file
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Assess U3D file handling exposureDetermine if users in the environment open or process U3D files, as the vulnerability triggers specifically when parsing malicious U3D contentAffected if Users open U3D files from untrusted sources
The environment is affected if PDF-XChange Editor is installed with a version lower than 9.5.366.0 and users process U3D files.
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 · scoped9.5.366.0
Avoid opening untrusted U3D files or visiting malicious pages until vendor patches are applied. Organizations should deploy email/content filtering for untrusted U3D attachments and monitor for PDF-XChange Editor updates.
PDF-XChange Editor 9.5.366.0 or later
- Navigate to the official PDF-XChange website (www.tracker-software.com) and locate the downloads section
- Download the latest version of PDF-XChange Editor
- Verify the version number is 9.5.366.0 or higher before installation
- Close any running instances of PDF-XChange Editor
- Install the downloaded update
- Restart the application and confirm the version in Help > About
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-42387 — 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-2022-42387 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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- 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