CVE-2018-5674
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 before 9.1 and PhantomPDF before 9.1. 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 processing of specially crafted pdf files with embedded u3d images. Crafted data in the PDF file can trigger an overflow of a heap-based buffer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code under the context of the current process, a different vulnerability than CVE-2018-5676 and CVE-2018-5678.
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 confidenceHeap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in Foxit Reader and PhantomPDF when processing specially crafted PDF files containing malicious U3D (Universal 3D) image data. The overflow allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code under the context of the current user 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<= 9.0.1.1049<= 9.0.1.1049CVSS 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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Check installed Foxit Reader versionOpen Foxit Reader, click Help > About Foxit Reader, or run: C:\Program Files\Foxit Software\Foxit Reader\FoxitReader.exe /registerAffected if Version number displayed is 9.0.1.1049 or lower (any version <= 9.0.1.1049)
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Check installed PhantomPDF versionOpen PhantomPDF, click Help > About PhantomPDF, or run: C:\Program Files\Foxit Software\PhantomPDF\PhantomPDF.exe /registerAffected if Version number displayed is 9.0.1.1049 or lower (any version <= 9.0.1.1049)
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Identify if U3D content is processedOpen suspicious PDF files in a hex editor or use PDF analysis tools to check for U3D (Universal 3D) objects embedded in the documentAffected if PDF files contain U3D stream objects and are opened in an affected Foxit version
You are affected if Foxit Reader or PhantomPDF version is 9.0.1.1049 or lower AND you open PDF files containing U3D (Universal 3D) image data.
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 dataUpgrade to Foxit Reader 9.1 or PhantomPDF 9.1 or later. Avoid opening untrusted PDF files from unknown sources.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-5674 — 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-2018-5674 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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