CVE-2021-41782
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 before 11.1 and PDF Editor before 11.1, and PhantomPDF before 10.1.6, allow attackers to trigger a use-after-free and execute arbitrary code because JavaScript is mishandled.
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 confidenceFoxit PDF Reader before 11.1, PDF Editor before 11.1, and PhantomPDF before 10.1.6 contain a use-after-free vulnerability in the JavaScript handling component. Attackers can exploit this memory corruption flaw to execute arbitrary code on the targeted system.
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>= 11.0, < 11.1>= 11.0, < 11.1< 10.1.6CVSS 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 macOS Applications folder, and look for Foxit PDF Reader, Foxit PDF Editor, or Foxit PhantomPDFAffected if Any of these three products are installed, proceed to version check
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Determine installed Foxit versionLaunch the Foxit application, click Help > About Foxit [Product Name] to display the exact version number (for example: 11.0.0.x)Affected if Version shown is 11.0.x (any minor release) for PDF Reader or PDF Editor, or any version below 10.1.6 for PhantomPDF
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Confirm JavaScript is enabledIn Foxit, go to File > Preferences > JavaScript and verify if JavaScript support is enabled (checked)Affected if JavaScript is enabled - this is required for the vulnerability to be exploitable
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Compare against affected version rangesFor PDF Reader or PDF Editor: check if version is >= 11.0.0 and < 11.1.0. For PhantomPDF: check if version is < 10.1.6Affected if Version falls within the affected ranges: 11.0.x for PDF Reader/Editor, or any version below 10.1.6 for PhantomPDF
A user is affected if Foxit PDF Reader or PDF Editor version 11.0.x is installed, or Foxit PhantomPDF version below 10.1.6 is installed, with JavaScript enabled in the application preferences.
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 · scoped10.1.611.1
Update Foxit PDF Reader, PDF Editor to version 11.1 or later, and PhantomPDF to version 10.1.6 or later to remediate this vulnerability.
PDF Reader/Editor 11.1 or PhantomPDF 10.1.6
- Open Foxit PDF Reader or PDF Editor
- Use the built-in Help > Check for Updates feature, or download the latest version from the official Foxit website at www.foxit.com
- Install the update (PDF Reader/Editor version 11.1 or later, or PhantomPDF version 10.1.6 or later)
- Restart the application after the update completes
- Verify the updated version by going to Help > About to confirm the fix is applied
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 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 $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-41782 — 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-2021-41782 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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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.
- 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