dbcve.org
Pdf Xchange EditorApplication · Pdf Xchange

CVE-2025-0903

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.4.2.390 or later.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
PDF-XChange Editor RTF File Parsing Heap-based Buffer Overflow Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of PDF-XChange Editor. 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 RTF files. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of the length of user-supplied data prior to copying it to a fixed-length heap-based buffer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-25421.

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

Heap-based buffer overflow in PDF-XChange Editor's RTF file parsing due to lack of proper length validation before copying user-supplied data to a fixed-size heap buffer. This allows remote attackers to achieve arbitrary code execution in the context of the current process via malicious RTF files.

MitigationAvoid opening untrusted RTF files and visiting untrusted webpages until vendor patch is available. Consider disabling RTF file handling or deploying application sandboxing as compensating controls.

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
Pdf Xchange EditorApplication
Affected:< 10.4.2.390

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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. Verify PDF-XChange Editor is installed
    Check for the application in Program Files (typically C:\Program Files\PDF-XChange\PDF-XChange Editor or C:\Program Files (x86)\PDF-XChange\PDF-XChange Editor) or look for the executable named PDFXEdit.exe
    Affected if The application is present on the system
  2. Determine installed version number
    Right-click on PDFXEdit.exe, select Properties, then go to the Details tab and check the Product version field, or run: Get-ItemProperty 'C:\Program Files\PDF-XChange\PDF-XChange Editor\PDFXEdit.exe' | Select-Object ProductVersion (adjust path if installed elsewhere)
    Affected if Version number is less than 10.4.2.390 or the version cannot be determined (treat as vulnerable)
  3. Confirm RTF file handling is enabled
    Check if RTF files can be opened by default or are associated with PDF-XChange Editor. Look in Windows Settings > Apps > Default Apps > Choose default apps by file type, or attempt to open a .rtf file with PDF-XChange Editor
    Affected if RTF file types are configured to open with PDF-XChange Editor or the application can process RTF files

The system is affected if PDF-XChange Editor is installed with a version lower than 10.4.2.390 and RTF file handling is enabled or available in the application.

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 10.4.2.390 or later
Fixed in 10.4.2.390
Interim mitigation

Avoid opening untrusted RTF files and visiting untrusted webpages until vendor patch is available. Consider disabling RTF file handling or deploying application sandboxing as compensating controls.

Recommended fix High confidence

PDF-XChange Editor 10.4.2.390 or later

  1. Download PDF-XChange Editor version 10.4.2.390 or later from the official vendor website
  2. Verify the installer checksum against published vendor checksums before installation
  3. Close all instances of PDF-XChange Editor
  4. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the upgrade
  5. After installation, verify the version by navigating to Help > About to confirm the installed version is 10.4.2.390 or higher
  6. Exercise caution when opening RTF files from untrusted sources, as user interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability

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

Fix this in Pdf Xchange Editor Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing5.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $2,970
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,752.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-0903 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2025-0903 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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