CVE-2020-28203
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in Foxit Reader and PhantomPDF 10.1.0.37527 and earlier. There is a null pointer access/dereference while opening a crafted PDF file, leading the application to crash (denial of service).
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 confidenceA null pointer dereference vulnerability exists in Foxit Reader and PhantomPDF versions 10.1.0.37527 and earlier. When opening a specially crafted malicious PDF file, the application attempts to access a null pointer, causing a denial of service via 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< 10.1.0.37527< 10.1.0.37527CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 Reader installationOpen Foxit Reader, then go to Help > About Foxit Reader to view the exact version number displayed in the dialogAffected if The displayed version is earlier than 10.1.0.37527 (for example, 10.1.0.x where x is less than 37527, or any earlier major version)
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Identify PhantomPDF installationOpen PhantomPDF, then go to Help > About Foxit PhantomPDF to view the exact version number displayed in the dialogAffected if The displayed version is earlier than 10.1.0.37527 (for example, 10.1.0.x where x is less than 37527, or any earlier major version)
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Check Windows registry for versionOpen regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Foxit Software or HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Foxit Software; locate the Version key under the Reader or PhantomPDF subkeyAffected if The Version value shown is less than 10.1.0.37527 or the key does not exist (product may not be installed)
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Assess exposure to malicious PDFsReview whether the application is configured to automatically open PDF files or is used to open PDF files from email attachments, downloads, or untrusted network sourcesAffected if Users routinely open PDF files from untrusted or unknown sources without validation, increasing the likelihood of triggering the vulnerability
A system is affected if Foxit Reader or PhantomPDF version is earlier than 10.1.0.37527 and users may open PDF files from untrusted sources.
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 data10.1.0.37527
Update Foxit Reader and PhantomPDF to a version newer than 10.1.0.37527. Until then, avoid opening PDF files from untrusted sources.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-28203 — 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-2020-28203 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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