Power PdfApplication · Tungstenautomation

CVE-2024-27343

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-04-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.0.0.17 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 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-22929.

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

This is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Kofax Power PDF's PDF file parsing functionality. The flaw results from insufficient validation of user-supplied data during PDF parsing, allowing an attacker to read past the end of an allocated memory object. This leads to sensitive information disclosure, and can be chained with other vulnerabilities to achieve arbitrary code execution in the current process context.

MitigationUsers should avoid opening untrusted or unexpected PDF files from unverified sources. Apply vendor patches when released, and consider using additional security controls like email gateways or sandboxing for PDF files from external 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:< 5.0.0.17

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 for the presence of Tungstenautomation Power PDF or Kofax Power PDF on the system by searching for the application in installed programs list or common installation directories
    Affected if Power PDF is installed on the system
  2. Identify installed Power PDF version
    Access the application version information through the Windows Add/Remove Programs feature, or right-click on the main executable file and select Properties > Details to view the File Version
    Affected if The version displayed is less than 5.0.0.17
  3. Confirm vulnerability scope
    The vulnerability is triggered when parsing PDF files through the application's parsing functionality. Any PDF file opened by the affected version will trigger the vulnerable code path
    Affected if The vulnerable PDF parsing code is invoked when users open PDF documents in the affected version

If Power PDF is installed and its version is below 5.0.0.17, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.

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 5.0.0.17 or later
Fixed in 5.0.0.17
Interim mitigation

Users should avoid opening untrusted or unexpected PDF files from unverified sources. Apply vendor patches when released, and consider using additional security controls like email gateways or sandboxing for PDF files from external sources.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Power PDF 5.0.0.17 or later

  1. Check the current installed version of Power PDF (Help > About or via the application menu)
  2. Download Power PDF version 5.0.0.17 or later from the official Kofax website or vendor distribution channel
  3. Close any running instances of Power PDF
  4. Install the updated version following the vendor's standard installation procedure
  5. Verify the installation completed successfully and the version shows 5.0.0.17 or higher
  6. Exercise caution when opening PDF files from untrusted sources

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

Fix this in Power Pdf Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,420
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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-2024-27343 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