CVE-2011-3691
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedUntrusted search path vulnerability in Foxit Reader before 5.0.2.0718 allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse dwmapi.dll, dwrite.dll, or msdrm.dll in the current working directory.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceFoxit Reader before 5.0.2.0718 contains an untrusted search path vulnerability where the application loads DLLs from the current working directory before checking system directories. An attacker can place malicious versions of dwmapi.dll, dwrite.dll, or msdrm.dll in a directory where a user runs Foxit Reader, causing the application to execute arbitrary code with the user's privileges.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 5.0= 2.0= 2.2= 2.3= 3.0= 3.1= 3.1.1= 3.1.3= 3.1.4= 3.2= 3.2.1= 3.3.1CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Foxit Reader versionOpen Foxit Reader, go to Help > About Foxit Reader, or check the version in Add/Remove Programs. Alternatively, right-click the Foxit Reader executable, select Properties, and check the Details tab for version information.Affected if The version number is 5.0 or lower, or matches any of these specific versions: 2.0, 2.2, 2.3, 3.0, 3.1, 3.1.1, 3.1.3, 3.1.4, 3.2, 3.2.1, or 3.3.1
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Locate Foxit Reader executable pathFind the foxitreader.exe file on the system. Common paths include C:\Program Files\Foxit Software\Foxit Reader\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Foxit Software\Foxit Reader\. Right-click the shortcut used to launch the application and note the 'Start in' folder.Affected if Foxit Reader is launched from a directory that is user-writable, such as a downloads folder, desktop, or network share
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Scan for suspicious DLLs in common launch directoriesCheck the folders where you typically run Foxit Reader (your documents, downloads, desktop) for files named dwmapi.dll, dwrite.dll, or msdrm.dll. Use Windows Explorer search or run: dir /s /b C:\Users\%username%\dwmapi.dll C:\Users\%username%\dwrite.dll C:\Users\%username%\msdrm.dllAffected if Any of these DLL files exist in directories from which Foxit Reader is run, indicating potential DLL preloading risk
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Verify DLL search behaviorCheck if Foxit Reader is configured to run from its installed directory only. Open the Foxit Reader shortcut properties and confirm the 'Start in' field points to the program installation folder (not a user directory).Affected if The 'Start in' field points to a user-writable directory such as %USERPROFILE%\Desktop, %USERPROFILE%\Downloads, or any directory other than the Foxit installation folder
You are affected if Foxit Reader version is 5.0 or lower (or matches any of the specific affected versions listed) AND the application is run from or has its shortcut configured to start in a user-writable directory where malicious DLLs could be placed.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scopedUpdate Foxit Reader to version 5.0.2.0718 or later, which includes the fixed DLL search path. Alternatively, implement application controls to prevent loading of DLLs from user-writable directories and educate users to not run applications from untrusted locations.
Foxit Reader 5.0.2.0718 or later
- Download Foxit Reader version 5.0.2.0718 or later from the official Foxit website
- Install the updated version of Foxit Reader
- Verify the installation by checking Help > About Foxit Reader shows version 5.0.2.0718 or higher
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-3691 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2011-3691 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data