CVE-2023-37355
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 JPG File Parsing Use-After-Free Information Disclosure Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to disclose sensitive information 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 JPG files. The issue results from the lack of validating the existence of an object prior to performing operations on the object. An attacker can leverage this in conjunction with other vulnerabilities to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-20460.
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 a use-after-free vulnerability in Kofax Power PDF's JPG file parsing functionality. The software fails to validate object existence before performing operations, allowing attackers to access freed memory and disclose sensitive information. When chained with other vulnerabilities, it can lead to arbitrary code execution in the current process context.
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< 5.0.0.10CVSS 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 Power PDF installationCheck for the presence of Kofax or Tungstenautomation Power PDF on the system by reviewing installed programs in Control Panel > Programs and Features, or by searching for the executable (typically in Program Files folder)Affected if The software is listed as installed
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Identify installed versionRight-click the Power PDF executable (typically named PowerPDF.exe or similar in the installation directory), select Properties, and check the File Version field under the Details tabAffected if The version displayed is lower than 5.0.0.10 (for example, 5.0.0.9, 4.x, or earlier)
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Verify JPG handling is accessibleLaunch Power PDF and attempt to open a standard JPG image file or attempt to insert/import a JPG into a PDF document through the application interfaceAffected if The JPG parsing functionality loads and processes files without errors (indicating the vulnerable code path is reachable)
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Review file association settingsCheck if JPG file types are associated with Power PDF by right-clicking a JPG file in Windows Explorer, selecting Open with > Choose another app, and verifying Power PDF is listed or set as defaultAffected if JPG files can be directly opened by Power PDF, making the vulnerability reachable through file opening
A system is affected if Tungstenautomation Power PDF is installed with a version lower than 5.0.0.10 and the application can process JPG 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.
From vendor data5.0.0.10
Apply vendor patches from Kofax when available; avoid opening untrusted or malicious JPG files from unknown sources; ensure endpoint protection and detection mechanisms are active.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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-2023-37355 — 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-2023-37355 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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