CVE-2023-51564
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 PDF File Parsing Out-Of-Bounds Read 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 PDF 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 in conjunction with other vulnerabilities to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-21606.
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 confidenceAn out-of-bounds read vulnerability exists in Kofax Power PDF's PDF file parsing due to insufficient validation of user-supplied data. The flaw allows reading past the end of an allocated buffer, potentially exposing sensitive memory contents. While the vulnerability itself only enables information disclosure, 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< 5.0.0.16CVSS 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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Identify installed Power PDF versionOpen Power PDF, then navigate to Help > About (or similar). Alternatively, check the installed program version via Windows Add/Remove Programs, or locate the executable (typically in C:\Program Files\Kofax\Power PDF or C:\Program Files\Tungsten Automation\Power PDF) and view its file properties.Affected if The displayed version is below 5.0.0.16
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Confirm product vendor nameCheck whether the installed software is branded as Kofax Power PDF or Tungsten Automation Power PDF, as both are affected.Affected if The software is Kofax Power PDF or Tungsten Automation Power PDF with version < 5.0.0.16
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Verify PDF processing capabilityConfirm the installation includes the core PDF parsing component by checking that the application can open and render PDF documents.Affected if The application has PDF parsing functionality and version is below 5.0.0.16
You are affected if you have Kofax Power PDF or Tungsten Automation Power PDF installed with any version prior to 5.0.0.16 and the application is used to open PDF 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 · scoped5.0.0.16
Apply vendor patches for Kofax Power PDF when available. Avoid opening untrusted or unexpected PDF files from unknown sources, as user interaction (opening a malicious file) is required for exploitation.
Power PDF 5.0.0.16 or later
- Obtain the latest version of Power PDF from the official Kofax website or through your organization's software distribution channel
- Verify current installed version by opening Power PDF and navigating to Help > About Power PDF
- Download Power PDF version 5.0.0.16 or later from the official vendor source
- Close all instances of Power PDF
- Run the installer to upgrade to the fixed version
- Restart the application after installation completes
- Confirm the new version is installed by checking Help > About Power PDF
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-51564 — 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-2023-51564 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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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.
- 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