CVE-2024-27339
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in Kofax Power PDF allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by tricking users into opening malicious PDF files. The flaw exists in PDF parsing where improper data validation leads to out-of-bounds writes. All users running vulnerable versions of Kofax Power PDF are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Kofax Power PDF
📦 What is this software?
Power Pdf by Tungstenautomation
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise with attacker gaining the same privileges as the PDF viewer process, potentially leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or lateral movement.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation or malware installation on the victim's system through crafted PDF files.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if application runs with minimal privileges, sandboxed, or network segmentation prevents lateral movement.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening malicious file) but the vulnerability itself is unauthenticated. No public exploit code identified in provided references.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Check Kofax security advisory for specific patched version
Vendor Advisory: https://docshield.kofax.com/PowerPDF/en_US/5.5.0-d3s176o9va/print/online/wwhelp/wwhimpl/js/html/wwhelp.htm#href=ReleaseNotes.07.3.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Check current Power PDF version. 2. Visit Kofax support portal. 3. Download and install latest security update. 4. Restart system to ensure patch is fully applied.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable PDF file association
windowsPrevent Power PDF from automatically opening PDF files
Control Panel > Default Programs > Set Associations > Change .pdf to different viewer
Application sandboxing
windowsRun Power PDF with restricted privileges using sandboxing tools
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Disable Power PDF entirely and use alternative PDF viewers with no known similar vulnerabilities
- Implement application whitelisting to block Power PDF execution
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Power PDF version against vendor's security advisory for affected versionsCheck Version:
In Power PDF: Help > About Power PDFVerify Fix Applied:
Verify installed version matches or exceeds patched version from vendor advisory📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Power PDF crash logs with memory access violations
- Unexpected child processes spawned from Power PDF
Network Indicators:
- Unusual outbound connections from Power PDF process
- DNS requests to suspicious domains following PDF opening
SIEM Query:
Process Creation where (Image contains 'PowerPDF' OR ParentImage contains 'PowerPDF') AND CommandLine contains '.pdf'