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PeazipApplication

CVE-2023-6891

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-12-17
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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
A vulnerability has been found in PeaZip 9.4.0 and classified as problematic. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown functionality in the library dragdropfilesdll.dll of the component Library Handler. The manipulation leads to uncontrolled search path. An attack has to be approached locally. Upgrading to version 9.6.0 is able to address this issue. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component. The associated identifier of this vulnerability is VDB-248251. NOTE: Vendor was contacted early, confirmed the existence of the flaw and immediately worked on a patched release.

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

PeaZip 9.4.0 contains a DLL hijacking vulnerability in the dragdropfilesdll.dll library. The application uses an uncontrolled search path when loading this library, allowing a local attacker to place a malicious DLL in a location where the application will load it before the legitimate DLL, leading to arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpgrade to PeaZip version 9.6.0 or later. Ensure the application directory is not writable by untrusted users and avoid running the application from untrusted locations such as network shares or recently extracted archives.

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
PeazipApplication
Affected:= 9.4.0

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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. Identify installed PeaZip version
    Open Windows Settings > Apps & Features, or run 'wmic product get name,version' or check the application's About/Help dialog to find the exact version number
    Affected if Version is exactly 9.4.0 (other versions are not affected by this specific CVE)
  2. Locate PeaZip installation directory
    Right-click the PeaZip shortcut, select 'Open file location' or check the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall for the InstallLocation
    Affected if The installation directory path is identified for further inspection
  3. Verify dragdropfilesdll.dll presence
    Check if dragdropfilesdll.dll file exists in the PeaZip installation directory
    Affected if The DLL file is present in the application directory (required for the hijacking vulnerability to be exploitable)
  4. Check directory write permissions
    Right-click the PeaZip installation folder > Properties > Security tab. Verify if untrusted users or groups (such as Users or Everyone) have Write or Modify permissions
    Affected if Untrusted users can write to the PeaZip installation directory, allowing them to place a malicious DLL that will be loaded by the application

A user is affected if they have PeaZip version 9.4.0 installed with dragdropfilesdll.dll present AND the application directory is writable by untrusted users or the application is run from an untrusted location such as a network share.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to PeaZip version 9.6.0 or later. Ensure the application directory is not writable by untrusted users and avoid running the application from untrusted locations such as network shares or recently extracted archives.

Recommended fix High confidence

9.6.0

  1. Backup any important archives or data processed by Peazip
  2. Navigate to the official Peazip repository (peazip.github.io) or download page
  3. Download Peazip version 9.6.0 or later for your platform (Windows or Linux)
  4. Uninstall the current Peazip 9.4.0 installation
  5. Install the downloaded version 9.6.0
  6. Launch Peazip and verify the application runs without DLL loading errors

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

Fix this in Peazip Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA0.5 h
3.5 hours of engineering $750
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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-2023-6891 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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