Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
-
AccessDeliver weaponized PDF
-
DeliveryUser opens document
-
ExploitTrigger malformed form parsing
-
ExecutionMemory corruption in signature logic
-
ImpactApplication crash or code execution
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V2 - Validation and Business Logic Input validation, allowlisting
|
| Exploitation Conditions | Victim must open a specially crafted PDF file using vulnerable versions of Foxit PDF Reader or Foxit PDF Editor (UI:R requirement). The malicious PDF must contain malformed form field hierarchies specifically designed to trigger the signature parsing logic flaw. No special application configuration or non-default settings are required-default installations are exploitable. No authentication or elevated privileges needed (PR:N), meaning standard user accounts are sufficient targets. Exploitation is limited to local attack vector (AV:L), requiring the attacker to deliver the malicious PDF to the target system through social engineering, removable media, email, or compromised file shares rather than direct network-based exploitation. The low attack complexity (AC:L) indicates the vulnerability triggers reliably once the malicious PDF is processed, without requiring race conditions or environmental randomness. |
| Impact | Real-world risk assessment reveals moderate-to-high concern with important caveats. The CVSS vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R) indicates local attack requiring user interaction but no privileges, with high impact across confidentiality, integrity, and availability. However, the local attack vector significantly constrains exploitation scenarios compared to network-based vulnerabilities. EPSS data is not available in the provided intelligence, preventing quantitative exploitation probability assessment. CISA KEV status is negative, indicating no confirmed active exploitation in federal enterprise or widespread campaigns. The 'Denial Of Service' tag suggests vendor assessment prioritizes availability impact, though the CVSS impact ratings (C:H/I:H/A:H) indicate potential for code execution beyond simple crashes. Attack complexity is low (AC:L), meaning reliable exploitation is feasible once the malicious PDF reaches the target. The requirement for user interaction (UI:R) provides a natural defense layer through security awareness training. Critical gap: No POC availability data provided, and affected version ranges are not specified in CPE strings (marked with wildcard *:*), making precise asset inventory challenging. Organizations should prioritize patching based on exposure to untrusted PDF sources rather than CVSS score alone. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker crafts a malicious PDF file containing intentionally malformed form field hierarchies designed to trigger the signature parsing flaw. The weaponized PDF is delivered via email attachment, drive-by download, or USB drop targeting specific individuals or organizations. When the victim opens the PDF using vulnerable Foxit PDF Reader or Editor, the parsing engine misidentifies non-signature data as valid signature objects, causing invalid memory writes that crash the application or potentially allow arbitrary code execution in the context of the user's privileges. |
Get an e-mail when this CVE is exploited, patched or re-scored. Free account.
Alert meAnalysisAIv2 – Apr 27, 2026
Memory corruption in Foxit PDF Reader and Foxit PDF Editor allows local attackers to crash the application or potentially execute arbitrary code through specially crafted PDF files with malformed form field hierarchies. The vulnerability triggers when parsing logic misidentifies non-signature data as valid signatures, causing invalid memory writes during internal data structure construction. User interaction is required to open the malicious PDF document. No active exploitation has been identified at time of analysis, though the local attack vector and high CVSS score (7.8) warrant attention for endpoint security in environments handling untrusted PDF files.
Earlier versions of this analysis (1)
Memory corruption in Foxit PDF Reader and Foxit PDF Editor allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or crash the application via specially crafted PDF documents with malformed form field hierarchies. Requires user interaction to open the malicious PDF file (AV:L/UI:R), but no authentication is needed (PR:N). CVSS 7.8 reflects high impact across confidentiality, integrity, and availability. No active exploitation confirmed at time of analysis; EPSS and KEV status not provided in available data.
RemediationAI
Check the official Foxit security bulletin at https://www.foxit.com/support/security-bulletins.html for the vendor-released patch and specific affected version ranges, then upgrade both Foxit PDF Reader and Foxit PDF Editor to the patched versions listed in the advisory. Until patching is complete, implement compensating controls: configure PDF applications to disable automatic opening of embedded content and disable JavaScript execution in PDF settings (trade-off: reduces functionality for interactive forms). Deploy endpoint detection rules monitoring for crashes in foxit*.exe processes when opening PDF files as potential exploitation indicators. Restrict PDF file sources through email filtering and web proxy policies to block PDFs from untrusted origins (trade-off: may impact legitimate business workflows requiring external PDF receipt). For high-security environments handling sensitive data, consider temporarily switching to alternative PDF readers for untrusted documents until patching is verified, though this introduces user experience and workflow disruption costs.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affects your stack
Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
This vulnerability affects Foxit's PDF parsing engine, specifically the component responsible for processing PDF form field hierarchies and digital signature validation. The root cause is classified as CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation), where the parser fails to properly validate form field structure before processing signature-related data. When encountering malformed hierarchies, the flawed parsing logic misinterprets non-signature data as valid signature objects, leading to construction of corrupted internal data structures. This triggers invalid memory writes that manifest as crashes and potentially exploitable memory corruption conditions. The affected products are identified by CPE strings as Foxit PDF Reader (cpe:2.3:a:foxit_software_inc.:foxit_pdf_reader) and Foxit PDF Editor (cpe:2.3:a:foxit_software_inc.:foxit_pdf_editor), both widely deployed PDF processing applications on Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms.
Know when Foxit Pdf Editor gets its next vulnerability
- Watch products and get an email when something new is published
- Check this CVE against your own stack and servers
- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
No credit card · 7-day full trial
Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
Lifecycle Timeline
3DescriptionNVD
Parsing logic flaws cause non-signature data to be misidentified as valid signatures when processing malformed form field hierarchies, leading to invalid memory writes and program crashes during internal data structure construction.
Zero Day Initiative Advisories
Executive ViewAI
CVE-2026-5941 affects Foxit PDF Reader and Foxit PDF Editor, allowing local attackers to crash applications or execute arbitrary code through malformed PDF files, posing a direct risk to any organization where employees process untrusted documents. With a CVSS score of 7.8 and no patch currently available, this vulnerability requires immediate compensating controls to protect endpoints in finance, legal, and document-processing workflows where PDF handling is routine.
No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis. Interim mitigations: (1) Restrict Foxit application execution via application allowlist policies to trusted users only; (2) Deploy endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) with behavioral monitoring for suspicious memory corruption patterns; (3) Run Foxit in a sandboxed environment or isolated virtual machine for processing untrusted PDFs; (4) Implement email gateway content filtering to block PDF attachments from external senders or known malicious sources; (5) Disable Foxit form field processing features if supported by configuration; (6) Monitor Foxit security advisories for emergency patches or vendor guidance.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.
More in Foxit Pdf Editor
View allContent spoofing in Foxit PDF Editor and Foxit PDF Reader allows remote attackers to alter visible content in incrementa
Local privilege escalation in Foxit PDF Editor for macOS allows an attacker with a low-privilege foothold to execute arb
A local privilege escalation vulnerability in the auto-update daemon shipped with Foxit PDF Editor and Foxit PDF Reader
Man-in-the-middle attackers occupying the network path of Foxit PDF Editor and Foxit PDF Reader software-update traffic
Path traversal in the attachment-handling logic of Foxit PDF Editor and Foxit PDF Reader lets a crafted PDF write an emb
An out-of-bounds write (CWE-787) in the PDF rendering engine of Foxit PDF Editor and Foxit PDF Reader can be triggered w
Out-of-bounds write in the U3D/GIF texture decoding path of Foxit PDF Editor and Foxit PDF Reader allows a crafted PDF t
Insufficient validation of embedded-resource file paths in Foxit PDF Editor and Foxit PDF Reader (CVE-2026-91801) lets a
Foxit PDF Editor and Reader can crash due to a use-after-free (CWE-416) when a user opens a specially crafted PDF that i
Use-after-free in Foxit PDF Editor and Foxit PDF Reader (CWE-416) lets a specially crafted PDF trigger memory corruption
Heap-based out-of-bounds write in Foxit PDF Editor and Foxit PDF Reader occurs when the products decode JPEG2000 image d
A use-after-free in Foxit PDF Editor and Foxit PDF Reader can be triggered by opening a crafted PDF whose image objects
EUVD-2026-25827
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
VulDB
GitHub PoC
Exploit-DB