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Acrobat ReaderApplication · Adobe

CVE-2012-0776

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-04-10
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 installer in Adobe Reader 9.x before 9.5.1 and 10.x before 10.1.3 allows attackers to bypass intended access restrictions and execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors.

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 · moderate confidence

The Adobe Reader installer (versions 9.x before 9.5.1 and 10.x before 10.1.3) contains a vulnerability allowing attackers to bypass intended access restrictions and execute arbitrary code through unspecified vectors. This is a privilege escalation flaw in the installation process itself, rated critical (CVSS 10) due to the potential for complete system compromise.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Reader to version 9.5.1 or later for the 9.x branch, or 10.1.3 or later for the 10.x branch. For legacy systems requiring older versions, consider isolating them from untrusted input and restricting installer execution permissions.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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:= 9.0= 9.1= 9.1.1= 9.1.2= 9.1.3= 9.2= 9.3= 9.3.1= 9.3.2= 9.3.3= 9.3.4= 9.4
AcrobatApplication
Affected:= 9.0= 9.1= 9.1.1= 9.1.2= 9.1.3= 9.2= 9.3= 9.3.1= 9.3.2= 9.3.3= 9.3.4= 9.4

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Locate the installed Adobe Reader or Acrobat executable
    On Windows, check the installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Reader X\ or C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat X\) for acrord32.exe (Reader) or acrobar.exe (Acrobat). On Mac, check /Applications/ for Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat.
    Affected if The executable exists and is from a vulnerable version range.
  2. Determine the installed product version
    Right-click the executable (acrord32.exe or acrobar.exe), select Properties, and view the Details tab for the Product Version. Alternatively, open the application and go to Help > About Adobe Reader/Acrobat.
    Affected if The version shown is 9.0 through 9.4 (any build), or 10.x versions before 10.1.3.
  3. Query the Windows registry for version information
    Open regedit and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\9.0 (or 10.0) and check the value of the "Version" key. For Reader, check HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Reader\9.0 (or 10.0).
    Affected if The registry version value matches 9.0 through 9.4, or any 10.x version below 10.1.3.
  4. Use command line to retrieve version
    Open Command Prompt and run: dir "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Reader *\acrord32.exe" /s. Then run: acrord32.exe /? or use PowerShell: (Get-Item "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Reader 9.0\Reader\acrord32.exe").VersionInfo.
    Affected if The version returned is 9.0.x, 9.1.x, 9.2.x, 9.3.x, or 9.4.x.

Your environment is affected if Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat is installed at version 9.0 through 9.4, or version 10.x before 10.1.3.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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
Vendor patch www.adobe.com →
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Reader to version 9.5.1 or later for the 9.x branch, or 10.1.3 or later for the 10.x branch. For legacy systems requiring older versions, consider isolating them from untrusted input and restricting installer execution permissions.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Reader 9.5.1 or later / Adobe Acrobat 9.5.1 or later

  1. Download Adobe Reader 9.5.1 or later from the official Adobe website
  2. Download Adobe Acrobat 9.5.1 or later from the official Adobe website
  3. Install the updated version of Adobe Reader and/or Acrobat
  4. Verify the installation by checking the version number in Help > About

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

Fix this in Acrobat Reader Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-2012-0776 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data