CVE-2020-12248
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 Reader and PhantomPDF before 10.0.1, and PhantomPDF before 9.7.3, attackers can execute arbitrary code via a heap-based buffer overflow because dirty image-resource data is mishandled.
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 · moderate confidenceHeap-based buffer overflow in Foxit Reader and PhantomPDF allows arbitrary code execution due to mishandling of dirty image-resource data. The vulnerability affects versions before 10.0.1 (both products) and PhantomPDF before 9.7.3. Attackers can exploit this by crafting malicious PDF files with specially crafted image resources that overflow heap buffers during parsing.
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<= 9.7.2.29539<= 10.0.0.35798<= 10.0.0.35798CVSS 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:3.1/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 installed Foxit productCheck for Foxit Reader or PhantomPDF installation by reviewing installed programs in Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'Get-ItemProperty' on registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* to list installed applications and look for 'Foxit Reader' or 'Foxit PhantomPDF' entries.Affected if Either Foxit Reader or Foxit PhantomPDF is present on the system.
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Retrieve Foxit Reader versionIf Foxit Reader is installed, find its version by right-clicking the Foxit Reader shortcut, selecting Properties, and viewing the 'Details' tab, or by checking the file version of the executable (typically in C:\Program Files (x86)\Foxit Software\Foxit Reader\FoxitReader.exe).Affected if The version retrieved is less than or equal to 10.0.0.35798.
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Retrieve PhantomPDF versionIf Foxit PhantomPDF is installed, find its version by right-clicking the PhantomPDF shortcut, selecting Properties, and viewing the 'Details' tab, or by checking the file version of the executable (typically in C:\Program Files (x86)\Foxit Software\PhantomPDF\PhantomPDF.exe).Affected if The version retrieved is less than or equal to 9.7.2.29539 or less than or equal to 10.0.0.35798.
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Confirm vulnerable image parsing is possibleThis vulnerability triggers when opening a PDF containing specially crafted 'dirty' image-resource data. The flaw exists in the parsing logic and does not require a specific configuration toggle; it is present in all affected versions when processing such malformed PDFs.Affected if An affected version of Foxit Reader (10.0.0.35798 or earlier) or PhantomPDF (9.7.2.29539 or earlier, or 10.0.0.35798 or earlier) is installed and processes PDF files.
You are affected if Foxit Reader version 10.0.0.35798 or earlier, or Foxit PhantomPDF version 9.7.2.29539 or earlier (or 10.0.0.35798 or earlier) is installed on your system.
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 version 10.0.1 or later and PhantomPDF to version 9.7.3 or later to obtain the patched software. Consider disabling JavaScript in Reader settings as a defense-in-depth measure until updates can be deployed.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 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-2020-12248 — 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-2020-12248 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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