CVE-2021-34969
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 · uneditedFoxit PDF Reader Annotation Use-After-Free 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 validating the existence of an object prior to performing operations on the 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-14622.
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 confidenceUse-After-Free vulnerability in Foxit PDF Reader's Annotation object handling where the software fails to validate object existence before performing operations, leading to sensitive information disclosure. The flaw can be chained with other vulnerabilities to achieve arbitrary code execution in the context of the current process. Requires user interaction (opening malicious PDF/file).
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<= 10.1.5.37672= 11.0.0.49893= 11.0.1.49938<= 11.0.1.49938CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Foxit PDF product installationCheck if Foxit PDF Reader or Foxit PDF Editor is installed on the system by looking in typical installation directories (C:\Program Files\Foxit Software\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Foxit Software\) or by searching for Foxit in installed programs.Affected if Either Foxit PDF Reader or Foxit PDF Editor is present on the system.
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Determine installed Foxit PDF Reader versionOpen Foxit PDF Reader, then go to Help > About Foxit Reader to display the version number and build information. Alternatively, right-click the Foxit PDF Reader shortcut, select Properties, and check the Details tab for version info.Affected if The version displayed is 11.0.1.49938 or earlier.
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Determine installed Foxit PDF Editor versionOpen Foxit PDF Editor, then go to Help > About Foxit PDF Editor to display the version number and build information. Alternatively, right-click the Foxit PDF Editor shortcut, select Properties, and check the Details tab for version info.Affected if The version displayed is 10.1.5.37672 or earlier, OR exactly 11.0.0.49893, OR exactly 11.0.1.49938.
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Compare against affected version rangesMatch your discovered version number against the affected ranges: Reader: <= 11.0.1.49938; Editor: <= 10.1.5.37672, = 11.0.0.49893, or = 11.0.1.49938.Affected if Your installed version falls within any of these affected ranges.
You are affected if Foxit PDF Reader version 11.0.1.49938 or earlier, or Foxit PDF Editor version 10.1.5.37672 or earlier (or versions 11.0.0.49893 or 11.0.1.49938) 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 dataApply vendor patch by updating Foxit PDF Reader to the latest version; avoid opening untrusted PDF files and exercise caution with email attachments.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-34969 — 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-2021-34969 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data