CVE-2023-42064
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 · uneditedPDF-XChange Editor U3D File Parsing Out-Of-Bounds Read Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code 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. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of user-supplied data, which can result in a read past the end of an allocated object. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-20944.
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 confidenceOut-of-bounds read vulnerability in PDF-XChange Editor's U3D (Universal 3D) file parser. The lack of proper validation of user-supplied data during U3D file parsing allows reading past the end of an allocated object, which can be leveraged to achieve remote code execution in the context of the current process.
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= 9.5.368.0= 9.5.368.0CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/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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Check PDF-XChange Editor versionOpen PDF-XChange Editor, go to Help > About, or right-click the executable in Program Files and view Properties > Details to find the product versionAffected if Version is exactly 9.5.368.0
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Check PDF-XChange PDF Tools versionCheck the installed version of PDF-XChange PDF Tools through the program's installation directory or Windows Add/Remove Programs, or view the executable version propertyAffected if Version is exactly 9.5.368.0
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Confirm U3D parsing capability is presentVerify the application has U3D (Universal 3D) support enabled - this is a built-in parser component used when opening PDFs containing 3D content; no configuration toggle required as it is integrated into the applicationAffected if The application can open and parse U3D files embedded in PDFs
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Identify U3D file processing triggerThe vulnerability triggers when opening a PDF file that contains a U3D object; there is no specific setting to disable U3D parsing - it occurs automatically during PDF renderingAffected if User opens a PDF containing embedded U3D 3D content
You are affected if you have version 9.5.368.0 of PDF-XChange Editor or PDF-XChange PDF Tools installed and open PDFs containing U3D (Universal 3D) objects.
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 dataUpdate PDF-XChange Editor to the latest patched version. Avoid opening untrusted PDF files or visiting malicious pages that could trigger U3D parsing.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-42064 — 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-2023-42064 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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