CVE-2020-8845
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 atackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Foxit PhantomPDF 9.6.0.25114. 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 handling of watermarks in AcroForms. The issue results from the lack of validating the existence of an object prior to performing operations on the object. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-9358.
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 use-after-free or null pointer dereference vulnerability exists in Foxit PhantomPDF 9.6.0.25114 where the application fails to validate object existence before performing operations on watermarks in AcroForms. This allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via malicious PDF files or web pages requiring user interaction.
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<= 9.7.0.29478<= 9.7.0.29455CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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 productOpen Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or check C:\Program Files\Foxit Software or C:\Program Files (x86)\Foxit Software for Foxit Reader or PhantomPDF folders. Look for 'Foxit Reader' or 'Foxit PhantomPDF' in the program list.Affected if Either Foxit Reader or Foxit PhantomPDF is installed on the system
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Determine Foxit Reader versionIf Foxit Reader is installed, open the application, click Help > About Foxit Reader. The version number is displayed in the dialog (format: x.x.x.xxxxx).Affected if Version is 9.7.0.29478 or lower
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Determine Foxit PhantomPDF versionIf Foxit PhantomPDF is installed, open the application, click Help > About Foxit PhantomPDF. The version number is displayed in the dialog (format: x.x.x.xxxxx).Affected if Version is 9.7.0.29455 or lower
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Compare against affected version rangesCompare your recorded version number against the affected ranges: Reader <= 9.7.0.29478, PhantomPDF <= 9.7.0.29455. Note that minor version differences (like 9.7.0.29479 or 9.7.0.29456) are NOT affected.Affected if Installed version falls at or below the respective threshold for your product
If Foxit Reader version 9.7.0.29478 or lower, or Foxit PhantomPDF version 9.7.0.29455 or lower is installed, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.
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 dataApply vendor-supplied patch for Foxit PhantomPDF. Until patched, exercise caution with untrusted PDF files and disable JavaScript execution in the PDF reader settings.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-8845 — 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-2020-8845 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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