Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-27342

Pdf-Xchange Pdf-Tools 9.4.364.0

Published
03 May 2024
Modified
20 May 2025
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0050 40th percentile
Risk Priority 61 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-27342 is a high-severity Untrusted Pointer Dereference (CWE-822) vulnerability in Pdf-Xchange Pdf-Tools. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 40th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

PDF-XChange Editor EMF File Parsing Untrusted Pointer Dereference 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…

more

visit a malicious page or open a malicious file. The specific flaw exists within the parsing of EMF files. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of a user-supplied value prior to dereferencing it as a pointer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-18766.

CWE(s)
CWE-822NVD-CWE-Other

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-40471Same product: Pdf-Xchange Pdf-Tools
CVE-2023-39501Same product: Pdf-Xchange Pdf-Tools
CVE-2023-40472Same product: Pdf-Xchange Pdf-Tools
CVE-2023-42082Same product: Pdf-Xchange Pdf-Tools
CVE-2023-42108Same product: Pdf-Xchange Pdf-Tools
CVE-2025-6640Same product: Pdf-Xchange Pdf-Tools
CVE-2023-42075Same product: Pdf-Xchange Pdf-Tools
CVE-2023-39491Same product: Pdf-Xchange Pdf-Tools
CVE-2024-8818Same product: Pdf-Xchange Pdf-Tools
CVE-2025-6646Same product: Pdf-Xchange Pdf-Tools

Affected Assets

pdf-xchange
pdf-tools
9.4.364.0
pdf-xchange
pdf-xchange editor
9.4.364.0

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation can discover instances where untrusted data is turned into a pointer and dereferenced.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

Validating all information inputs stops untrusted values from being accepted and converted into dereferenceable pointers.

SI-16 Memory Protection partial match

Memory-protection mechanisms limit the damage from an invalid pointer dereference without stopping the root coding flaw.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent introduction of untrusted pointer handling during development.

DE.CM-09 partial match
prevents

Runtime monitoring of software and data can detect adverse events resulting from exploitation of the weakness.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover instances of this weakness via code review or scanning.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing can detect pointer-dereference flaws before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development lifecycle includes pointer-safety practices that reduce untrusted pointer dereference risk.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can mandate validation of pointers obtained from untrusted sources.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles discourage direct use of untrusted values as pointers.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid dereferencing pointers derived from untrusted input.

References