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Foxit ReaderApplication · Foxitsoftware

CVE-2021-38571

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-08-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 9.7.5.29616 / 10.1.4 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
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
An issue was discovered in Foxit Reader and PhantomPDF before 10.1.4. It allows DLL hijacking, aka CNVD-C-2021-68000 and CNVD-C-2021-68502.

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

This is a DLL hijacking vulnerability in Foxit Reader and PhantomPDF. The application loads Dynamic Link Libraries (DLLs) from insecure paths, allowing attackers to place malicious DLLs in locations where the application will load them, potentially executing arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running the application.

MitigationUpdate Foxit Reader and PhantomPDF to version 10.1.4 or later. Ensure only trusted DLLs can be loaded by reviewing application paths and restricting write access to directories in the DLL search order.

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
Foxit ReaderApplication
Affected:< 10.1.4
PhantompdfApplication
Affected:< 9.7.5.29616>= 10.0.0.0, < 10.1.4

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify installed Foxit product and version
    Open Windows Registry and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\FoxitSoftware\Foxit Reader or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\FoxitSoftware\PhantomPDF, or right-click on FoxitReader.exe or PhantomPDF.exe in the installation folder and select Properties > Details to view the File Version
    Affected if The displayed version is below 10.1.4 for Foxit Reader, or below 9.7.5.29616, or between 10.0.0.0 and 10.1.4 for PhantomPDF
  2. Locate the application executable
    Common installation paths are C:\Program Files\Foxit Software\Foxit Reader\FoxitReader.exe or C:\Program Files\Foxit Software\PhantomPDF\PhantomPDF.exe. Verify the exact path from the registry or Start menu shortcut properties
    Affected if The executable exists in a directory where untrusted users have write access to nearby folders
  3. Review DLL search path vulnerability
    Use Sysinternals Process Monitor to filter by the Foxit process and observe which DLLs it loads and from which paths. Focus on DLLs that fail to load or are loaded from user-writable directories
    Affected if The application loads DLLs from directories that untrusted users can modify, such as the application root directory, temp folders, or directories added to the PATH

If the installed Foxit Reader version is below 10.1.4, or PhantomPDF version is below 9.7.5.29616 or between 10.0.0.0 and 10.1.4, and the application loads DLLs from writable locations, the environment is affected by CVE-2021-38571.

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 9.7.5.29616 / 10.1.4 or later
Fixed in 9.7.5.2961610.1.4
Interim mitigation

Update Foxit Reader and PhantomPDF to version 10.1.4 or later. Ensure only trusted DLLs can be loaded by reviewing application paths and restricting write access to directories in the DLL search order.

Recommended fix High confidence

Foxit Reader 10.1.4 or later; PhantomPDF 10.1.4 or later

  1. 1. Open Foxit Reader or PhantomPDF application
  2. 2. Navigate to Help > Check for Updates or visit the official Foxit website at www.foxitsoftware.com
  3. 3. Download the latest version (10.1.4 or later for both Foxit Reader and PhantomPDF)
  4. 4. Close all Foxit applications
  5. 5. Run the installer and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the upgrade
  6. 6. Verify the installation by checking Help > About Foxit Reader/PhantomPDF shows version 10.1.4 or later
Caveat Standard minor version upgrade - review release notes for any feature changes or migration notes

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

Fix this in Foxit Reader Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,800
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,880.

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-2021-38571 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