CVE-2023-37342
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 · uneditedKofax Power PDF PNG File Parsing Heap-based Buffer Overflow Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Kofax Power PDF. 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 PNG files. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of the length of user-supplied data prior to copying it to a fixed-length heap-based buffer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-20439.
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 confidenceA heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in Kofax Power PDF's PNG file parsing functionality. The flaw results from insufficient validation of user-supplied data length before copying to a fixed-size heap buffer, allowing an attacker to overwrite adjacent memory and achieve remote code execution via a specially crafted PNG file.
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< 5.0.0.11CVSS 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:3.0/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Power PDF is installedCheck for the presence of Power PDF installation directory under Program Files or Program Files (x86), or look for Power PDF entries in Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\UninstallAffected if Power PDF is not found on the system, the CVE does not apply
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Locate the installed version informationCheck the version.dll or PowerPDF.exe file properties in the installation folder, or query the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Kofax\Power PDF\Version (or similar version registry key)Affected if Unable to determine version number - further investigation needed
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Compare installed version to affected rangeCompare the identified version against the affected range: any version prior to 5.0.0.11 (e.g., 5.0.0.10, 4.x.x.x, 3.x.x.x) is vulnerableAffected if Installed version is below 5.0.0.11 - the environment is affected by this CVE
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Confirm PNG processing is accessibleVerify the application can process PNG files through any standard functionality (opening documents, image preview, or thumbnail generation features)Affected if PNG files can be processed by the application and version is below 5.0.0.11 - exploitation is possible
If Power PDF is installed and the version is below 5.0.0.11, the environment is vulnerable to heap-based buffer overflow when processing specially crafted PNG 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 · scoped5.0.0.11
Apply the vendor-supplied patch for CVE-2023-37342. Until patched, instruct users to avoid opening untrusted PNG files or visiting untrusted websites, as exploitation requires user interaction.
Power PDF version 5.0.0.11 or later
- Upgrade Power PDF to version 5.0.0.11 or later to remediate the heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in PNG file parsing
- Verify the upgrade by checking Help > About Power PDF to confirm the installed version
- Avoid opening untrusted PNG files from unknown sources to reduce attack surface until the upgrade is applied
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-37342 — 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-2023-37342 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
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