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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 24 Mar 2022.
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system · Redhat

CVE-2013-0640

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2013-02-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 9.5.4 / 10.1.6 or later.
See remediation →
97/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS No privileges

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
Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x before 9.5.4, 10.x before 10.1.6, and 11.x before 11.0.02 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted PDF document, as exploited in the wild in February 2013.

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 · high confidence

Memory corruption vulnerability in Adobe Reader and Acrobat allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via crafted PDF documents. Exploited in the wild in February 2013.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Reader and Acrobat to version 9.5.4, 10.1.6, 11.0.02 or later to patch the memory corruption vulnerability.

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
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 6.0
Enterprise Linux EusOperating system
Affected:= 5.9= 6.4
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
Affected:= 6.0
Enterprise Linux Server AusOperating system
Affected:= 5.9= 6.4
Enterprise Linux WorkstationOperating system
Affected:= 6.0
AcrobatApplication
Affected:>= 9.0, < 9.5.4>= 10.0, < 10.1.6>= 11.0, < 11.0.02
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:>= 10.0, < 10.1.6>= 11.0, < 11.0.02>= 9.0, < 9.5.4
OpensuseOperating system
Affected:= 11.4= 12.1

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 Adobe Acrobat or Reader installation
    Search for Adobe executables: on Windows check 'C:\Program Files\Adobe\' or 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\' directories; on Linux check /opt/ or use 'find /usr -name "*adobe*" -o -name "Acro*"'
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is found installed on the system
  2. Determine installed Adobe product version
    On Windows, check file properties of the Acrobat/Reader executable or open the application and go to Help > About. On Linux, check the RPM package with 'rpm -qa | grep -i adobe' or check the version file in the installation directory
    Affected if Version cannot be determined or product is installed but unpatched
  3. Compare version against vulnerable ranges
    Match the installed version to these vulnerable ranges: Acrobat/Reader 9.x < 9.5.4, 10.x < 10.1.6, or 11.x < 11.0.02. Any version within these ranges is affected
    Affected if Installed version falls within 9.0 to 9.5.3, 10.0 to 10.1.5, or 11.0 to 11.0.01
  4. Assess exposure to malicious PDF files
    Check if Adobe Reader/Acrobat is configured to automatically open PDF files from email attachments, web browsers, or untrusted sources. Review browser plug-in status and default PDF handlers
    Affected if Adobe is set as default PDF handler or browser plug-in is enabled, increasing attack surface for malicious PDFs

User is affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed with a version below 9.5.4, 10.1.6, or 11.0.02 and the application can open untrusted PDF documents.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 9.5.4 / 10.1.6 / 11.0.02 or later
Fixed in 9.5.410.1.611.0.02
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Reader and Acrobat to version 9.5.4, 10.1.6, 11.0.02 or later to patch the memory corruption vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat/Reader 9.5.4+, 10.1.6+, or 11.0.02+ (or latest available version)

  1. 1. Identify the currently installed Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader version by checking the application or using the system's package manager
  2. 2. If running Adobe Acrobat/Reader 9.x (9.0 to 9.5.3), upgrade to version 9.5.4 or later
  3. 3. If running Adobe Acrobat/Reader 10.x (10.0 to 10.1.5), upgrade to version 10.1.6 or later
  4. 4. If running Adobe Acrobat/Reader 11.x (11.0 to 11.0.01), upgrade to version 11.0.02 or later
  5. 5. For Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems, check if Red Hat has released errata via 'yum update' or the RHN portal for the specific affected versions (5.9, 6.0, 6.4)
  6. 6. For openSUSE systems, apply any available security updates via 'zypper patch' for versions 11.4 and 12.1
  7. 7. Restart the Adobe application after upgrading
  8. 8. Verify the new version matches or exceeds the minimum fixed versions (9.5.4, 10.1.6, or 11.0.02)
Caveat Upgrading Adobe Acrobat/Reader may introduce changes to PDF rendering behavior or compatibility with older PDF features; ensure testing with critical workflows before deployment

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

Fix this in Enterprise Linux Desktop Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,800
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2013-0640 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