CVE-2023-27330
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 XFA Annotation Use-After-Free Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code 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 vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process. Was ZDI-CAN-19476.
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 confidenceThis is a use-after-free vulnerability in Foxit PDF Reader's handling of XFA Annotation objects. The software fails to validate the existence of an object before performing operations on it, allowing an attacker who can trick a user into opening a malicious PDF file to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current process.
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< 10.1.10.37854>= 11.0.0.49893, < 11.2.4.53774>= 12.0.0.12394, < 12.1.0.15250< 12.1.0.15250CVSS 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:3.0/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 Foxit product and versionOpen Foxit PDF Reader or Editor, click Help > About, or right-click the application in the taskbar and select Properties to view the version numberAffected if The version displayed is less than 12.1.0.15250 for Reader, or falls outside the safe version ranges (10.1.10.37854, 11.2.4.53774, or 12.1.0.15250 or higher for Editor)
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Confirm product typeDetermine whether you are running Foxit PDF Reader or Foxit PDF Editor - both are affected but have different version rangesAffected if Running any affected version of Foxit PDF Reader or Editor as listed in the CVE affected versions
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Compare against safe version thresholdsFor PDF Reader: verify version is 12.1.0.15250 or higher. For PDF Editor: verify version is 10.1.10.37854, OR between 11.2.4.53774 and 11.2.4.x, OR 12.1.0.15250 or higherAffected if Your installed version is below all safe thresholds and falls within the affected ranges
You are affected if your Foxit PDF Reader is below version 12.1.0.15250, or your Foxit PDF Editor is below 10.1.10.37854, below 11.2.4.53774, or below 12.1.0.15250.
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 · scoped10.1.10.3785411.2.4.5377412.1.0.15250
Apply the vendor patch from Foxit when available, and avoid opening untrusted or unexpected PDF files from unknown sources.
Pdf Reader: 12.1.0.15250+ | Pdf Editor: 10.1.10.37854+, 11.2.4.53774+, or 12.1.0.15250+ depending on major version
- 1. Identify the currently installed Foxit PDF Reader or PDF Editor version via Help > About
- 2. For Foxit PDF Reader: Upgrade to version 12.1.0.15250 or later from the official Foxit download page
- 3. For Foxit PDF Editor version 10.x: Upgrade to version 10.1.10.37854 or later
- 4. For Foxit PDF Editor version 11.x: Upgrade to version 11.2.4.53774 or later
- 5. For Foxit PDF Editor version 12.x: Upgrade to version 12.1.0.15250 or later
- 6. Restart the application after upgrading
- 7. Verify the new version via Help > About to confirm the fix is applied
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-27330 — 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-2023-27330 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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