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PhantompdfApplication · Foxitsoftware

CVE-2018-20309

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-01-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.3.10 / 9.5 or later.
See remediation →
90/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Foxit Reader before 9.5, and PhantomPDF before 8.3.10 and 9.x before 9.5, has a proxyGetAppEdition race condition that can cause a stack-based buffer overflow or an out-of-bounds read.

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 confidence

A race condition in the proxyGetAppEdition function in Foxit Reader before version 9.5 and PhantomPDF before 8.3.10 and 9.x before 9.5 can trigger a stack-based buffer overflow or out-of-bounds read, potentially allowing arbitrary code execution or information disclosure.

MitigationUpgrade Foxit Reader to version 9.5 or later, and PhantomPDF to version 8.3.10 or later (or 9.x to 9.5 or later). Prioritize patching in environments handling untrusted PDF files.

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
PhantompdfApplication
Affected:< 8.3.10>= 9.0, < 9.5
ReaderApplication
Affected:< 9.5

CVSS 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
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Foxit product
    Check for Foxit Reader or PhantomPDF installation in Windows Add/Remove Programs, Program Files folder (typically C:\Program Files\Foxit Software\), or review installed applications via system inventory tools
    Affected if Either Foxit Reader or PhantomPDF is installed
  2. Determine Foxit Reader version
    Open Foxit Reader, go to Help > About Foxit Reader, or right-click Foxit Reader.exe in the installation directory and select Properties > Details to view the File Version
    Affected if Installed version is lower than 9.5 (any version before 9.5 is affected)
  3. Determine Foxit PhantomPDF version
    Open PhantomPDF, go to Help > About PhantomPDF, or right-click PhantomPDF.exe in the installation directory and select Properties > Details to view the File Version
    Affected if Installed version is lower than 8.3.10 OR is 9.x but lower than 9.5 (versions < 8.3.10, >= 9.0.0, and < 9.5 are affected)

You are affected if Foxit Reader version is below 9.5, or PhantomPDF version is below 8.3.10 or is 9.x but below 9.5

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 8.3.10 / 9.5 or later
Fixed in 8.3.109.5
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Foxit Reader to version 9.5 or later, and PhantomPDF to version 8.3.10 or later (or 9.x to 9.5 or later). Prioritize patching in environments handling untrusted PDF files.

Fix this in Phantompdf Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,480
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,968.

Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-20309 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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