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Power PdfApplication · Tungstenautomation

CVE-2023-51611

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.0.0.21 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 JP2 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 JP2 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-21836.

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 · moderate confidence

Kofax Power PDF contains an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in its JP2 (JPEG 2000) file parsing logic. The application fails to properly validate user-supplied data during JP2 file processing, allowing an attacker to read beyond the boundaries of allocated memory objects. This information disclosure can be chained with other vulnerabilities to achieve arbitrary code execution.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patches for Kofax Power PDF when available. Until then, enforce strict policies against opening untrusted JP2 files from unknown sources.

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:< 5.0.0.21

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
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 checks

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

  1. Verify Power PDF installation
    Check if Kofax Power PDF or Tungstenautomation Power PDF is installed on the system through Add/Remove Programs, Program Files directory, or by searching for the application executable.
    Affected if The application is present on the system.
  2. Determine installed version
    Locate the Power PDF executable (typically named Power PDF.exe or similar) and check its file version property, or use the application's About/Help menu to view version information.
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 5.0.0.21.
  3. Confirm JP2 file handling capability
    Verify that the Power PDF installation includes image conversion or viewing functionality that processes JP2 (JPEG 2000) files. This is typically a built-in feature of the PDF application.
    Affected if The application can open or process JP2 files as part of its standard functionality.

A user is affected if Kofax Power PDF or Tungstenautomation Power PDF is installed with a version lower than 5.0.0.21 and the application can process JP2 image files.

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 5.0.0.21 or later
Fixed in 5.0.0.21
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied patches for Kofax Power PDF when available. Until then, enforce strict policies against opening untrusted JP2 files from unknown sources.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Power PDF version 5.0.0.21 or later

  1. 1. Verify the current installed version of Power PDF by opening the application and navigating to Help > About or checking in the system control panel.
  2. 2. Download Power PDF version 5.0.0.21 or later from the official Kofax website (www.kofax.com) or your organization's software distribution center.
  3. 3. Ensure all work is saved and close any open instances of Power PDF.
  4. 4. Run the installer for the new version with appropriate administrative privileges.
  5. 5. Follow the on-screen installation prompts to complete the upgrade.
  6. 6. After installation, verify the new version by checking Help > About to confirm version 5.0.0.21 or higher is installed.
  7. 7. Test that normal PDF operations, particularly JP2 (JPEG 2000) file handling, work correctly after the upgrade.
Caveat Minor: Standard upgrade; review release notes for any feature changes if upgrading across major versions

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

Fix this in Power Pdf Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,800
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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-2023-51611 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