dbcve.org
Pdf ReaderApplication · Foxit

CVE-2020-35990

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-08-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 10.1.0.37527 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges

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
Buffer Overflow vulnerability in cFilenameInit parameter in browseForDoc function in Foxit Software Foxit PDF Reader version 10.1.0.37527, allows local attackers to cause a denial of service (DoS) via crafted .pdf file.

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 confidence

A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the cFilenameInit parameter of the browseForDoc function in Foxit PDF Reader version 10.1.0.37527. Local attackers can exploit this by tricking users into opening a crafted PDF file, causing the application to crash and resulting in denial of service.

MitigationUpdate Foxit PDF Reader to the latest version with the security patch applied. Alternatively, avoid opening PDF files from untrusted sources.

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
Pdf ReaderApplication
Affected:<= 10.1.0.37527

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
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 checks

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

  1. Check Foxit PDF Reader version
    Open Foxit PDF Reader, then go to Help > About Foxit Reader (or press F9) to display the version number
    Affected if The displayed version is 10.1.0.37527 or earlier (any version <= 10.1.0.37527)
  2. Identify if the browseForDoc function is reachable
    The vulnerability is triggered when the application calls the browseForDoc function with a crafted cFilenameInit parameter. This occurs during file open operations, particularly when using dialogs to browse for documents
    Affected if The function is invoked during normal PDF opening workflows in the affected version
  3. Confirm vulnerability exposure via PDF files
    The attack requires a user to open a maliciously crafted PDF file. Check whether users in your environment open PDF files from untrusted or unknown sources
    Affected if Users open PDF files from untrusted sources while using a vulnerable Foxit PDF Reader version

A user is affected if Foxit PDF Reader version 10.1.0.37527 or earlier is installed AND a user opens a specially crafted PDF file that triggers the buffer overflow in the browseForDoc function.

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 a release after 10.1.0.37527
Interim mitigation

Update Foxit PDF Reader to the latest version with the security patch applied. Alternatively, avoid opening PDF files from untrusted sources.

Fix this in Pdf Reader Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $910
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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-2020-35990 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