CVE-2023-51552
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 AcroForm Signature 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 Signature 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-22007.
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 AcroForm Signature handling. The flaw exists because the software fails to validate that an object exists before performing operations on it, allowing an attacker to manipulate freed memory and 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<= 10.1.12.37872>= 11.0.0, <= 11.2.7.53812>= 12.0.0, <= 12.1.3.15356= 13.0.0.21632= 2023.1.0.15510= 2023.2.0.21408<= 2023.2.0.21408CVSS 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 installed Foxit productOpen Windows Settings > Apps > Installed Apps (or Control Panel > Programs and Features) and look for 'Foxit PDF Reader' or 'Foxit PDF Editor' in the installed programs listAffected if Neither Foxit PDF Reader nor Foxit PDF Editor is installed, then the environment is not affected
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Check Foxit PDF Reader versionOpen Foxit PDF Reader, click Help > About Foxit Reader (or press F9) and note the full version number displayed (format: x.x.x.xxxxx)Affected if Version is greater than 2023.2.0.21408, then likely not vulnerable; version is 2023.2.0.21408 or lower, then potentially affected
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Check Foxit PDF Editor versionOpen Foxit PDF Editor, click Help > About Foxit PDF Editor and note the version number displayedAffected if Version falls within any of these affected ranges: <= 10.1.12.37872, >= 11.0.0 and <= 11.2.7.53812, >= 12.0.0 and <= 12.1.3.15356, = 13.0.0.21632, = 2023.1.0.15510, or = 2023.2.0.21408, then potentially affected
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Determine AcroForm Signature usageOpen any PDF that you have opened in Foxit, look for the Signatures pane (File > Sign & Certify > Signatures) or check if documents with digital signature fields have been opened in the pastAffected if AcroForm Signatures have never been used or enabled, exploitation is less likely but the software version still determines exposure
The environment is affected if Foxit PDF Reader version 2023.2.0.21408 or lower (or Foxit PDF Editor version within any of the specified vulnerable ranges) is installed and the AcroForm Signature feature is available or has been used.
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 dataUpdate Foxit PDF Reader to the latest version as soon as a patch is available from the vendor; avoid opening untrusted PDF files or visiting malicious websites until the update is applied.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-51552 — 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-2023-51552 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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