Vulnerability DatabaseCVE-2021-34968

CVE-2021-34968:
Foxit PDF Reader vulnerability analysis and mitigation

Overview

CVE-2021-34968 is a Use-After-Free Remote Code Execution vulnerability affecting Foxit PDF Editor. The vulnerability was discovered and disclosed in 2021, with the initial report made on August 11, 2021, and public disclosure on October 15, 2021. The vulnerability affects installations of Foxit PDF Editor and received a CVSS v3.0 score of 7.8 (HIGH) (ZDI Advisory).

Technical details

The vulnerability exists within the implementation of the transitionToState method in Foxit PDF Editor. The specific flaw results from the lack of validating the existence of an object prior to performing operations on the object. This is classified as a CWE-416 (Use After Free) vulnerability (NVD, ZDI Advisory).

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 attack requires user interaction, specifically that the target must visit a malicious page or open a malicious file (ZDI Advisory).

Mitigation and workarounds

Foxit has released security updates to address this vulnerability. Users are advised to update their Foxit PDF Editor installations to the latest version through the application's update mechanism or by downloading the latest version from the Foxit website (Foxit Security Bulletin).