Catastrophic failure when decrypting a pdf file

[shayar]

Hello,

I've been using PDF-XChange Editor for some time now, and I'm facing an interesting issue with a specific encrypted file. The file in question is password protected (encrypted), and when I open it with PDFXC and entering the correct password, I'm getting an error saying "Catastrophic failure" (screenshot attached).

pdfx.png

I tried:
1. Opening the file with another PDF reader (sumatra pdf) - it works.
2. Using qpdf command line tool to decrypt the file - the decrypted file is opened without issues by PDFX

So I'm pretty sure this is a PDFXC issue. I cannot share the file itself since it has sensitive content. I also don't know what system was used to produce this file.

Is there a way to get more information from PDFXC, like some sort of a debug log? I'm happy to provide more information if needed.

Thanks!

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, shayar

Thank you for the report, To begin a process dump of from the software while it is displaying this message could help, please follow the steps here to record that: https://www.pdf-xchange.com/knowledgeba ... estigation
Once you have the dump file, you can upload it here: https://files.pdf-xchange.com/s/ZoS7tH3oHi5c6bF

Following that, if at all possible, a copy of the document in question would help here. We do not need the password, as the Dev team can inspect the "structure" of the file without opening it, but being able to see that structure may help us identify the cause of the issue. Since it is likely a sensitive file, you can place it on the upload page as well.

Kind regards,

[shayar]

Thanks Daniel!

I just uploaded the memory dump and the file in question.

Best,
Shay

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, shayar

Thank you for those, I have passed them along to the Dev team for review, and will get back to you as soon as I have heard from them!

[Edit] I have heard back from the team, it seems this is a case of the Editor (and a number of other applications, including Adobe), reading the files encryption data as a "corrupt" file, and causing us to try and "repair" it, when that isn't necessary.

I have created a ticket for this, and hopefully we can see it resolved in due time.
RT#7475: Bug: false-corrupt detection

Kind regards,

[shayar]

Thanks for the update, I appreciate it!

[Jordan - PDF XChange]