CVE-2018-17620
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 9.0.1.5096. 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 the handling of Calculate events. The issue results from the lack of validating the existence of an object prior to performing operations on the object. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-6353.
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 9.0.1.5096 contains a use-after-free or null pointer dereference vulnerability in its Calculate event handling for PDF forms. The code fails to validate that an object exists before performing operations on it, allowing a specially crafted PDF to trigger arbitrary code execution in the context of the current process when opened by the victim.
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<= 9.2.0.9297<= 9.2.0.9297CVSS 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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Identify Foxit product installationOpen the application and go to Help > About Foxit Reader (or PhantomPDF), or check Add/Remove Programs in Windows Control Panel to see the installed version numberAffected if The installed version is Foxit Reader or PhantomPDF version 9.2.0.9297 or lower
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Compare version against affected rangeNote the full version number (for example, 9.0.1.5096) and compare it to the affected range: any version <= 9.2.0.9297 is vulnerableAffected if The installed version number is less than or equal to 9.2.0.9297
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Verify PDF form Calculate event feature is accessibleOpen a PDF form file in Foxit Reader/PhantomPDF, right-click on a form field, select Properties, and check if the Calculate tab is present and accessibleAffected if The Calculate event functionality exists and is available in the installed version (this is a standard PDF forms feature present in affected versions)
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Confirm the application handles PDF forms with Calculate eventsAttempt to open or process any PDF file containing form fields with JavaScript-based Calculate events; the vulnerability triggers when the application processes these Calculate eventsAffected if The application processes PDF forms with Calculate events (this is the trigger condition for the flaw)
A user is affected if they have Foxit Reader or PhantomPDF installed with any version number at or below 9.2.0.9297, and the application processes PDF files containing form Calculate events.
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 dataUpdate Foxit Reader to the latest patched version from the vendor. Until patched, avoid opening untrusted PDF files and consider disabling JavaScript execution in Foxit settings.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-17620 — 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-2018-17620 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
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