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Pdf EditorApplication · Foxit

CVE-2021-34949

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 11.0.1.49938 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
Foxit PDF Reader Annotation Out-Of-Bounds Read Information Disclosure Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to disclose sensitive information on affected installations of Foxit PDF Reader. 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 Annotation objects. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of user-supplied data, which can result in a read past the end of an allocated object. An attacker can leverage this in conjunction with other vulnerabilities to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-14273.

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 confidence

This is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Foxit PDF Reader's Annotation object handling. The lack of proper validation of user-supplied data allows reading past the end of an allocated buffer, potentially exposing sensitive memory contents. While primarily an information disclosure flaw, it can be chained with other vulnerabilities to achieve arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpdate Foxit PDF Reader to the latest version and avoid opening untrusted PDF files or visiting malicious web pages.

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 EditorApplication
Affected:<= 10.1.5.37672= 11.0.0.49893= 11.0.1.49938
Pdf ReaderApplication
Affected:<= 11.0.1.49938

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
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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. Identify Foxit product installation
    Open Foxit PDF Reader or Foxit PDF Editor, then navigate to Help > About Foxit PDF Reader (or Editor) to display the installed version number
    Affected if The product is Foxit PDF Reader or Foxit PDF Editor with a version matching <= 10.1.5.37672, = 11.0.0.49893, or = 11.0.1.49938
  2. Compare version against affected ranges
    Note the full version number displayed in the About dialog and compare it to the affected version list: <= 10.1.5.37672; = 11.0.0.49893; = 11.0.1.49938
    Affected if The installed version falls within or matches any of these specified ranges or exact version numbers
  3. Verify Annotation feature status
    In Foxit, go to Home tab and check if the Annotations panel is visible or accessible; the vulnerability exists in Annotation object parsing regardless of whether annotations are currently displayed
    Affected if The Annotations functionality is present (this is a default feature in Foxit PDF products)

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 11.0.1.49938
Interim mitigation

Update Foxit PDF Reader to the latest version and avoid opening untrusted PDF files or visiting malicious web pages.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest available version of Foxit PDF Reader and Foxit PDF Editor (ensure version > 11.0.1.49938 for both products)

  1. 1. Navigate to the official Foxit website (www.foxit.com) or the Foxit Support page
  2. 2. Locate the Downloads or Support section for Foxit PDF Reader and Foxit PDF Editor
  3. 3. Download the latest available version of Foxit PDF Reader and Foxit PDF Editor
  4. 4. Uninstall the current versions of Foxit PDF Reader and Foxit PDF Editor
  5. 5. Install the newly downloaded latest versions
  6. 6. Restart the application and verify the version number in the Help > About section
Caveat Standard upgrade considerations apply - review release notes for any significant feature changes or migration requirements

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Pdf Editor Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,090
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,744.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2021-34949 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