Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2018-10490 is a remote code execution issue in Foxit Reader 9.0.0.29935. A victim must open a malicious file or visit a malicious page. If successful, attacker code can run with the victim user's process privileges.
Executive priority
Treat as high priority if Foxit Reader 9.0.0.29935 exists in the environment. The business risk is user-assisted code execution from malicious content, not an unauthenticated network worm scenario.
Technical view
The flaw is in parsing JPEG images embedded inside U3D files. Improper validation of user-supplied data can cause memory access past the end of an allocated data structure, classified as CWE-119. ZDI tracked it as ZDI-CAN-5422.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to endpoints running Foxit Reader 9.0.0.29935, especially where users receive or open untrusted PDF-related content. The provided sources do not identify other affected Foxit versions or products.
Exploitation context
The source bundle states remote attackers can exploit this with user interaction through a malicious page or file. CISA KEV is false, and no provided source states active exploitation in the wild.
Researcher notes
Evidence is specific but narrow: Foxit Reader 9.0.0.29935, JPEG-in-U3D parsing, out-of-bounds memory access, current-process code execution. CVSS is absent in the bundle, so severity scoring should be validated against vendor or NVD data before formal reporting.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory endpoints for Foxit Reader 9.0.0.29935.
- Check Foxit's security bulletin for the applicable fixed version or vendor remediation.
- Update or remove vulnerable Foxit Reader installations where possible.
- Limit opening untrusted documents or web content on vulnerable systems.
Validation and detection
- Confirm installed Foxit Reader versions across managed endpoints.
- Review software inventory for Foxit Reader 9.0.0.29935 specifically.
- Verify remediation against Foxit's official security bulletin.
- Check endpoint telemetry for suspicious document-opening activity, without assuming exploitation.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-119: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupExecution behavior lookup
The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2018-10490 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-18-400CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://www.foxitsoftware.com/support/security-bulletins.phpCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.