CVE-2026-3780

Local privilege escalation via installer search-path hijacking

Published Apr 1, 2026 · Updated Apr 1, 2026

Untrusted search paths in affected Foxit PDF Editor and PDF Reader installers allow local users to execute code with elevated privileges. During installation, executable and DLL resolution includes user-writable directories, allowing malicious files with system-component names to be selected instead of trusted files. Low-privileged Windows access and user interaction are required; affected releases include PDF Reader 2025.3 and earlier and PDF Editor 14.0.2 and 2025.3 and earlier.

CVSS severity7.3
High
EPSS probability0.12%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Untrusted search paths in affected Foxit PDF Editor and PDF Reader installers allow local users to execute code with elevated privileges. During installation, executable and DLL resolution includes user-writable directories, allowing malicious files with system-component names to be selected instead of trusted files. Low-privileged Windows access and user interaction are required; affected releases include PDF Reader 2025.3 and earlier and PDF Editor 14.0.2 and 2025.3 and earlier.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-3780
Published
Apr 1, 2026
Updated
Apr 1, 2026
Vendor
Foxit Software
Product
Foxit PDF Reader
Classifications
CWE-426, CAPEC-38, T1574.001
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 1, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Apr 1, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=Versions 2025.3 and earlier

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Foxit Software · Foxit PDF Readerversion=Versions 2025.3 and earlier
Foxit Software · Foxit PDF Editorversion=Versions 14.0.2 and earlier; version=Versions 2025.3 and earlier

Published CVSS scores

7.3Foxit SoftwareCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-426Untrusted Search Path
CAPEC-38Leveraging/Manipulating Configuration File Search Paths
T1574.001DLL Search Order Hijacking

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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