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Acrobat ReaderApplication · Adobe

CVE-2013-2721

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-05-16
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
Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x before 9.5.5, 10.x before 10.1.7, and 11.x before 11.0.03 allow attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2013-2718, CVE-2013-2719, CVE-2013-2720, CVE-2013-2722, CVE-2013-2723, CVE-2013-2725, CVE-2013-2726, CVE-2013-2731, CVE-2013-2732, CVE-2013-2734, CVE-2013-2735, CVE-2013-2736, CVE-2013-3337, CVE-2013-3338, CVE-2013-3339, CVE-2013-3340, and CVE-2013-3341.

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

Memory corruption vulnerability in Adobe Reader and Acrobat allowing arbitrary code execution or denial of service. The vulnerability affects versions 9.x before 9.5.5, 10.x before 10.1.7, and 11.x before 11.0.03. Exploitation occurs through unspecified vectors leading to memory corruption.

MitigationApply vendor patches by updating Adobe Reader and Acrobat to versions 9.5.5, 10.1.7, or 11.0.03 or later. Until patched, restrict or disable PDF handling in untrusted environments.

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. Check if Adobe Reader is installed
    On Windows, open Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Reader or HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Reader. Look for version subkeys (e.g., 9.0, 10.1, 11.0).
    Affected if Any version subkey exists indicating Adobe Reader is present on the system
  2. Determine installed Adobe Reader version
    If the registry key exists, check the "Version" or "VersionMajor" and "VersionMinor" values under the version subkey (e.g., 9.4, 10.1.6, 11.0.02). Alternatively, right-click AcroRd32.exe in the Reader installation folder and view Properties > Details for the File Version.
    Affected if The detected version is 9.x (any version up to 9.4), 10.x before 10.1.7, or 11.x before 11.0.03
  3. Check if Adobe Acrobat is installed
    On Windows, open Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat. Look for version subkeys. Adobe Acrobat typically installs to Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat XX.X\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat is found with a version from 9.0 through 9.4 (the specific vulnerable versions listed)
  4. Compare version against affected ranges
    If a version is identified, compare it to the vulnerable ranges: 9.0 to 9.4 (all vulnerable), 10.0 to 10.1.6 (vulnerable), or 11.0 to 11.0.02 (vulnerable). Versions 9.5.5+, 10.1.7+, or 11.0.03+ are patched.
    Affected if The installed version is 9.5.4 or lower, 10.1.6 or lower, or 11.0.02 or lower

A system is affected if Adobe Reader or Acrobat is installed with version 9.x through 9.4, 10.x through 10.1.6, or 11.x through 11.0.02, as these fall within the unpatched ranges.

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

Apply vendor patches by updating Adobe Reader and Acrobat to versions 9.5.5, 10.1.7, or 11.0.03 or later. Until patched, restrict or disable PDF handling in untrusted environments.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Reader/Acrobat 9.5.5 or later (for 9.x); 10.1.7 or later (for 10.x); 11.0.03 or later (for 11.x)

  1. Identify the currently installed Adobe Reader or Acrobat version by navigating to Help > About Adobe Reader/Acrobat
  2. Download the appropriate fixed version from the official Adobe website or your organization's software distribution channel
  3. For Adobe Reader 9.x: Upgrade to version 9.5.5 or later
  4. For Adobe Acrobat 9.x: Upgrade to version 9.5.5 or later
  5. For Adobe Acrobat 10.x: Upgrade to version 10.1.7 or later
  6. For Adobe Acrobat 11.x: Upgrade to version 11.0.03 or later
  7. Alternatively, consider upgrading to the latest available version of Adobe Reader/Acrobat which includes all security patches
  8. Verify the installation was successful by checking Help > About again
Caveat Adobe updates typically have minimal breaking changes but enterprise environments should test PDF workflow compatibility before broad deployment

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

Fix this in Acrobat Reader Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2013-2721 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