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Power PdfApplication · Tungstenautomation

CVE-2023-38092

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2024-05-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.0.0.10 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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
Kofax Power PDF importDataObject Stack-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 implementation of the importDataObject method. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of the length of user-supplied data prior to copying it to a fixed-length stack-based buffer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-20603.

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 confidence

A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in Kofax Power PDF's importDataObject method. The flaw results from insufficient bounds checking when copying user-supplied data to a fixed-length stack buffer, allowing an attacker to overwrite stack frames and achieve arbitrary code execution through specially crafted PDF files.

MitigationUsers should avoid opening untrusted or unexpected PDF files, as exploitation requires user interaction to open a malicious document. Organizations should apply vendor-provided patches and ensure updates are deployed through standard patch management processes.

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
Power PdfApplication
Affected:< 5.0.0.10

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check the installed Power PDF version
    Open Power PDF, then go to Help > About, or right-click the executable file (Power PDF.exe) and select Properties > Details to view the Product Version
    Affected if The installed version is below 5.0.0.10
  2. Locate the Power PDF executable version via command line
    Run the command: wmic product where "name like 'Power PDF'" get name,version or check the file version using: powershell "(Get-Item 'C:\Program Files\Kofax\Power PDF\Power PDF.exe').VersionInfo.FileVersion"
    Affected if The version displayed is lower than 5.0.0.10
  3. Verify the application is used in your environment
    Check for installed instances on endpoints using: reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall" /s /f "Power PDF" or check Program Files for the Kofax folder
    Affected if Power PDF version 5.0.0.10 or lower is found installed on the system
  4. Determine if users process untrusted PDF documents
    Review user workflows or security policies to identify if staff open PDF files from external sources, email attachments, or web downloads
    Affected if Users routinely open PDF files from untrusted or unknown sources without prior scanning

The environment is affected if Power PDF version 5.0.0.10 or lower is installed and users open PDF documents, as the buffer overflow triggers when processing a specially crafted PDF file using the importDataObject method.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.0.0.10 or later
Fixed in 5.0.0.10
Interim mitigation

Users should avoid opening untrusted or unexpected PDF files, as exploitation requires user interaction to open a malicious document. Organizations should apply vendor-provided patches and ensure updates are deployed through standard patch management processes.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Power PDF 5.0.0.10 or later

  1. 1. Open Kofax Power PDF application
  2. 2. Navigate to Help > About Power PDF to check current version
  3. 3. If version is below 5.0.0.10, download the latest version from the official Kofax website or your vendor portal
  4. 4. Run the installer and follow the prompts to upgrade
  5. 5. Verify the installed version is 5.0.0.10 or later after upgrade completes
Caveat Review release notes for any feature changes between your current version and 5.0.0.10

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Power Pdf Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,280
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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-2023-38092 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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