CVE-2023-51607
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 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 PNG 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-21829.
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 an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Kofax Power PDF's PNG file parsing. The lack of proper validation of user-supplied data during PNG parsing allows reading past the end of an allocated buffer, leading to sensitive information disclosure. While classified as information disclosure (CVSS 5.5), the vulnerability can be chained with other flaws 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< 5.0.0.17CVSS 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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Verify Power PDF is installedCheck system for Kofax Power PDF or Tungstenautomation Power PDF installation - look in Program Files, Program Files (x86), or use system inventory toolsAffected if Power PDF is present on the system
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Identify installed Power PDF versionLocate the Power PDF executable (typically named Power PDF.exe or similar) and check its version properties through file properties, or use 'wmic product' / 'Get-Package' PowerShell commands if availableAffected if The installed version is below 5.0.0.17
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Confirm version falls within vulnerable rangeCompare the discovered version number against the affected range: any version less than 5.0.0.17 is vulnerableAffected if Installed version is < 5.0.0.17
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Verify PNG file handling is accessibleConfirm the application can process PNG image files - this is a core parsing feature enabled by default in Power PDF for document/image handlingAffected if PNG parsing capability is available in the installed version
The environment is affected if Power PDF is installed with any version prior to 5.0.0.17 and the application can parse PNG files, which is enabled by default.
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 · scoped5.0.0.17
Users should avoid opening untrusted or unknown PNG files and ensure Kof Power PDF is updated to the latest patched version once available. Organizations should consider sandboxing or email filtering for untrusted document attachments.
Power PDF 5.0.0.17 or later
- Check the current version of Power PDF installed on the system (Help > About or similar)
- Navigate to the official Kofax support or downloads page to obtain Power PDF version 5.0.0.17 or later
- Backup any important PDF documents and custom settings if possible
- Uninstall the current version of Power PDF
- Install Power PDF version 5.0.0.17 or the latest available version
- Verify the new version is correctly installed and test with PNG files
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 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-2023-51607 — 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-2023-51607 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