CVE-2021-38569
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 before 10.1.4. It allows stack consumption via recursive function calls during the handling of XFA forms or link objects.
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 stack consumption vulnerability exists in Foxit Reader and PhantomPDF versions before 10.1.4, where recursive function calls during XFA (XML Forms Architecture) form or link object handling lead to excessive stack usage. This can cause application denial of service or potentially enable code execution via stack overflow.
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< 10.1.4< 10.1.4CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 installed Foxit product and versionOpen the application, then navigate to Help > About Foxit Reader (or About PhantomPDF) to display the exact version number. Alternatively, right-click the desktop shortcut and select Properties to view version information from the file details.Affected if The displayed version number is lower than 10.1.4 (for example, 10.1.3, 10.1.0, or earlier)
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Confirm the specific Foxit product in useDetermine whether the installed application is Foxit Reader or PhantomPDF, as both are affected by this CVE. Check the application window title bar or the About dialog to identify the product name.Affected if The product is either Foxit Reader or PhantomPDF and the version is below 10.1.4
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Verify if XFA forms are being usedCheck whether PDF documents being opened contain XFA (XML Forms Architecture) forms. Open a PDF file and look for form fields that use dynamic XML-based form logic, or examine document properties to identify XFA-based forms.Affected if XFA-based forms or dynamic PDF documents are regularly opened in the affected version of Foxit Reader or PhantomPDF
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Check for link object handling activityReview recent workflow or document processing logs if available, or manually test opening PDF documents that contain interactive link objects to observe application behavior.Affected if PDFs with complex link objects or interactive elements are processed in an affected version
A user is affected if Foxit Reader or PhantomPDF version is below 10.1.4 and the application processes XFA forms or link objects from PDF documents.
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.
dbcve · scoped10.1.4
Upgrade Foxit Reader and PhantomPDF to version 10.1.4 or later to receive the patch addressing the recursive call vulnerability.
10.1.4 or later
- Navigate to the official Foxit website at www.foxitsoftware.com
- Locate and download Foxit Reader version 10.1.4 or later (or PhantomPDF if using that product)
- Uninstall the current version of Foxit Reader or PhantomPDF from the system
- Install the downloaded version 10.1.4 or later
- Launch the application and verify the version by going to Help > About Foxit Reader to confirm the installed version
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-38569 — 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-2021-38569 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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