Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Foxit Reader 10.1.1.37576 has a memory corruption flaw in XFA form handling. A victim must open a malicious file or visit a malicious page, but successful exploitation could run attacker code as the user, putting documents and workstation access at risk.
Executive priority
Treat this as a high-priority endpoint remediation item where Foxit Reader is deployed. The business risk is user-assisted compromise from malicious documents, not unauthenticated internet-wide exploitation.
Technical view
CVE-2021-31452 is a CWE-787 out-of-bounds write in Foxit Reader’s XFA form processing. Improper validation of user-supplied data can write past an allocated structure and enable arbitrary code execution in the current process. ZDI tracked it as ZDI-CAN-13091 and ZDI-21-541.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to installations of Foxit Reader 10.1.1.37576 identified in the source bundle, especially on endpoints where users open untrusted PDFs or web-delivered files.
Exploitation context
User interaction is required. The provided sources describe malicious file or page delivery but do not state active exploitation, and the bundle marks this CVE as not in KEV.
Researcher notes
The evidence supports affected version, vulnerability class, attack precondition, and impact. The source bundle does not provide exploit details, active exploitation evidence, or a specific fixed version, so remediation should follow Foxit’s bulletin.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory Foxit Reader installations and identify version 10.1.1.37576.
- Review Foxit’s security bulletin for vendor-supported update guidance.
- Deploy the vendor-supported fixed Reader version where applicable.
- Reduce exposure to untrusted PDF files and web-delivered documents.
- Prioritize patching for users handling external documents.
Validation and detection
- Confirm no managed endpoint still runs Foxit Reader 10.1.1.37576.
- Check software inventory for unmanaged Foxit Reader installs.
- Review endpoint telemetry for suspicious Foxit Reader crashes or child process behavior.
- Verify document-handling controls cover external PDFs and XFA forms.
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-787: 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-2021-31452 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
- High
- CVSS
- 7.8 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
7.8HighVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.foxitsoftware.com/support/security-bulletins.phpCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-21-541/CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
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.
Out-of-bounds Write
Out-of-bounds Write represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.