CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2020-17415 — This vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of Foxit PhantomPDF 10.0.0.35798

High CVSS 7.8

This vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of Foxit PhantomPDF 10.0.0.35798. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the handling of the configuration files used by the Foxit PhantomPDF Update Service. The issue results from incorrect permissions set on a resource used by the service. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges and execute code in the context of SYSTEM. Was ZDI-CAN-11308.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.8 (3.1)
Published
2020-10-13
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-732

Affected products

  • foxitsoftware / foxit_reader
  • foxitsoftware / phantompdf

Matched remediation archetype

Privilege escalation and unsafe privilege management

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Map service accounts, operating-system identities, roles, capabilities, impersonation, set-user transitions, and administrative helper paths.
  • Determine whether untrusted users or lower-privilege processes can reach the affected transition or modify inputs it trusts.
  • Review file, socket, registry, device, job, container, and cloud-role permissions used before and after privilege changes.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and redesign privileged operations as a minimal, authenticated, allowlisted interface.
  • Drop privileges before processing untrusted input, verify the drop succeeds, and remove unnecessary roles, capabilities, and write permissions.
  • Validate ownership and permissions at time of use and add explicit lower-to-higher privilege boundary tests.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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