CVE-2017-10951
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 · uneditedThis vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on vulnerable installations of Foxit Reader 8.3.0.14878. User interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability in that the target must visit a malicious page or open a malicious file. The specific flaw exists within app.launchURL method. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of a user-supplied string before using it to execute a system call. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code under the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-4724.
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 confidenceThis is a command injection vulnerability in Foxit Reader 8.3.0.14878 where the app.launchURL method fails to properly validate user-supplied input before passing it to a system call. An attacker can exploit this by tricking a user into opening a malicious PDF or visiting a webpage containing a crafted URL, allowing arbitrary code execution under the context of the current Foxit Reader process.
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= 8.3.0.14878CVSS 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
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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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Verify Foxit Reader is installedCheck for Foxit Reader installation: On Windows, look in Program Files for Foxit Reader folder, or check registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{GUID} for Foxit Reader entriesAffected if Foxit Reader is present on the system
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Retrieve installed Foxit Reader versionOpen Foxit Reader, go to Help > About Foxit Reader, or check the version in the application's properties. Alternatively, check the executable properties of FoxitReader.exe in the installation folderAffected if Version displayed is 8.3.0.14878
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Confirm app.launchURL is accessibleThe app.launchURL is a built-in JavaScript API in Foxit Reader. This method is available by default when JavaScript is enabled in the PDF reader. No additional configuration check needed as it is part of the standard Reader functionalityAffected if Foxit Reader is running with JavaScript enabled (default state) and the app.launchURL method can be invoked via PDF JavaScript
User is affected if Foxit Reader version 8.3.0.14878 is installed and the app.launchURL JavaScript method can be executed, which is the default configuration in this version.
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.
From vendor dataApply the vendor patch from Foxit Reader to address the improper input validation in app.launchURL. Users should avoid opening untrusted PDF files or clicking suspicious links until the patch is applied.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-10951 — 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-2017-10951 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
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