CVE-2018-17624
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 9.1.0.5096. 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 OCG objects. 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-6435.
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 use-after-free or similar memory corruption vulnerability in Foxit Reader 9.1.0.5096. The flaw exists in the handling of OCG (Optional Content Group) objects within PDF files. The code fails to validate that an object exists before performing operations on it, allowing a crafted PDF to trigger dereferencing of a freed or invalid object and achieve arbitrary code execution in the context of the current 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<= 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 installationCheck for Foxit Reader or PhantomPDF installation by reviewing installed programs in Control Panel > Programs and Features, or use command: 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion' in PowerShellAffected if Foxit Reader or PhantomPDF appears in the installed programs list
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Determine installed Foxit versionLocate the exact version number in the Programs and Features list, or right-click the Foxit Reader shortcut and select Properties > General tab, or open Foxit Reader and go to Help > About Foxit ReaderAffected if The displayed version is 9.2.0.9297 or lower, or any version up to and including 9.2.0.9297
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Confirm product is within affected rangeCompare your installed version against the affected range: Foxit Reader <= 9.2.0.9297 or PhantomPDF <= 9.2.0.9297Affected if Your installed version number is less than or equal to 9.2.0.9297 for either product
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Verify OCG handling is triggered by PDF contentThis vulnerability is triggered when opening a specially crafted PDF file containing malicious OCG (Optional Content Group) objects; no special configuration needs to be enabled for the vulnerability to exist in the softwareAffected if The vulnerable software version is present regardless of settings, as the flaw is in the code that processes OCG objects during PDF rendering
Your environment is affected if Foxit Reader or PhantomPDF is installed with any version <= 9.2.0.9297, since the vulnerability resides in the software code itself and not in a toggleable configuration.
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 version which contains the vendor fix. Until patched, avoid opening PDF files from untrusted sources and consider disabling JavaScript execution in the application settings.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-17624 — 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-2018-17624 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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