CVE-2018-20247
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 · uneditedIn Foxit Quick PDF Library (all versions prior to 16.12), issue where loading a malformed or malicious PDF containing a recursive page tree structure using the LoadFromFile, LoadFromString or LoadFromStream functions results in a stack overflow.
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 Quick PDF Library versions prior to 16.12 lack proper recursion depth limits when parsing PDF page tree structures. When loading a malformed PDF with a deeply recursive page tree via LoadFromFile, LoadFromString, or LoadFromStream functions, the parser enters unbounded recursion leading to stack overflow and application crash.
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< 16.12CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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 Quick PDF Library usageSearch your codebase or application dependencies for references to Foxit Quick PDF Library, or check installed software listings for 'Foxit Quick PDF Library' or 'Foxit' PDF-related componentsAffected if Foxit Quick PDF Library is present in the environment
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Determine installed versionCheck the version of Foxit Quick PDF Library installed in your environment or referenced in your application dependencies; compare this version number to 16.12Affected if The version is below 16.12 (for example, 16.11, 16.0, older releases)
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Identify vulnerable function callsReview application code for calls to LoadFromFile, LoadFromString, or LoadFromStream functions from the Foxit Quick PDF Library APIAffected if These functions are used to load PDF files into the application
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Check PDF input handlingDetermine whether your application accepts PDF files from external sources (user uploads, network, file system) and passes them to the vulnerable LoadFromFile/LoadFromString/LoadFromStream functionsAffected if The application processes untrusted PDF files through these functions
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Verify recursion depth protectionCheck if version 16.12 or later is in use, which implements recursion limits for PDF page tree parsingAffected if Running a version prior to 16.12 and processing PDFs with deeply nested page trees
You are affected if Foxit Quick PDF Library versions prior to 16.12 are used and your application loads PDF files via LoadFromFile, LoadFromString, or LoadFromStream functions, as malformed PDFs with recursive page trees can trigger stack overflow.
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 data16.12
Update Foxit Quick PDF Library to version 16.12 or later which implements recursion limits. Additionally, implement input validation to reject PDFs with excessively nested page tree structures before passing them to the library.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,616.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-20247 — 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-2018-20247 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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