Vulnerability DatabaseCVE-2021-34966

CVE-2021-34966:
Foxit PDF Reader vulnerability analysis and mitigation

Overview

CVE-2021-34966 is a FileAttachment Annotation Use-After-Free Remote Code Execution Vulnerability affecting Foxit PDF Editor. The vulnerability was discovered and reported on August 11, 2021, and publicly disclosed on October 15, 2021. This security flaw affects installations of Foxit PDF Editor and requires user interaction for exploitation (Zero Day Initiative).

Technical details

The vulnerability exists within the handling of Annotation objects in Foxit PDF Editor. The specific issue stems from the lack of validating the existence of an object prior to performing operations on the object. The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS v3.x base score of 7.8 HIGH with the vector string: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, indicating a high severity issue (Zero Day Initiative).

Impact

If successfully exploited, this vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current process on affected installations of Foxit PDF Editor. The high CVSS score indicates that successful exploitation could lead to complete compromise of the system's confidentiality, integrity, and availability (Zero Day Initiative).

Mitigation and workarounds

Foxit has issued an update to correct this vulnerability. Users are advised to update their Foxit PDF Editor installations to the latest version through the official website or using the application's built-in update mechanism (Zero Day Initiative, Foxit Security Bulletins).