Technical impact
Foxit PDF Editor and Reader process embedded PDF resources without properly validating file paths, allowing an attacker to supply file paths that escape the intended directory boundaries. This directory traversal flaw can be leveraged to write arbitrary files to privileged locations, and due to the ability to place executable payloads, the vulnerability enables remote code execution. The weakness directly correlates to the CWE-22 family of directory traversal vulnerabilities. The result is that an attacker who can deliver a crafted PDF can trigger the creation and execution of arbitrary code on the victim's system, compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Affected Systems
Foxit Software Inc. offers the vulnerable software in two product lines: Foxit PDF Editor and Foxit PDF Reader. Specific product versions affected are not enumerated in the available data; security teams should refer to Foxit’s security bulletin for the most current information to determine if their deployed version is impacted.
Risk and Exploitability
The CVSS score is 7.8, indicating a high severity. The EPSS score is below 1 %, suggesting a low probability of exploitation in the wild at the time of this analysis. The vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog. Based on the description, the most likely attack vector is a malicious PDF document delivered via email, web download, or other means that the user opens with the compromised viewer. Successful exploitation would allow the attacker to write files to arbitrary locations and execute code, yielding full control over the affected system.
