Acrobat ReaderApplication · Adobe

CVE-2004-0630

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2004-08-18
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The uudecoding feature in Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0.5 and 5.0.6 for Unix and Linux, and possibly other versions including those before 5.0.9, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via shell metacharacters ("`" or backtick) in the filename of the PDF file that is provided to the uudecode command.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:= 5.0= 5.0.5= 5.0.6

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (latest version) or at minimum version 5.0.9 if legacy 5.x line is required

  1. 1. Download and install Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (the current supported version) from the official Adobe website at get.adobe.com/reader
  2. 2. Alternatively, consider using open-source PDF readers such as Firefox's built-in PDF viewer, Okular, or Evince as these provide regular security updates
  3. 3. If Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.x must be used for legacy compatibility, upgrade to at least version 5.0.9 which contains the fix for this specific vulnerability
  4. 4. Ensure the PDF files being opened are from trusted sources and avoid opening PDF files with unexpected filenames containing shell metacharacters
Caveat Adobe Reader 5.x is extremely outdated (2001-2003) and no longer supported; upgrading to modern Reader DC will require learning new interface and may require reconfiguration of integrations

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2004-0630 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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