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Acrobat ReaderApplication · Adobe

CVE-2013-2731

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-2013-2721, CVE-2013-2722, CVE-2013-2723, CVE-2013-2725, CVE-2013-2726, 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 · high confidence

Adobe Reader and Acrobat contain a memory corruption vulnerability (CVSS 10) that allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service via unspecified vectors. The flaw affects versions 9.x before 9.5.5, 10.x before 10.1.7, and 11.x before 11.0.03.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Reader and Acrobat to version 9.5.5, 10.1.7, or 11.0.03 or later to remediate this critical 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
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 Adobe Reader version on Windows
    Open Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Reader\[Version] or HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Reader\[Version]. Look for the Version and/or Release value in the key.
    Affected if The installed version is 9.0 through 9.4.x (any 9.x version below 9.5.5), or 10.0 through 10.1.6 (any 10.x version below 10.1.7), or 11.0 through 11.0.02 (any 11.x version below 11.0.03)
  2. Check Adobe Acrobat version on Windows
    Open Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\[Version] or HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\[Version]. Look for the Version value.
    Affected if The installed version is 9.0 through 9.4.x (any 9.x version below 9.5.5), or 10.0 through 10.1.6 (any 10.x version below 10.1.7), or 11.0 through 11.0.02 (any 11.x version below 11.0.03)
  3. Check application Help menu
    Open Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat, click Help, then select About Adobe Reader or About Adobe Acrobat. The version number displayed in the dialog window is the installed version.
    Affected if The displayed version is 9.0 through 9.4.x, 10.0 through 10.1.6, or 11.0 through 11.0.02
  4. Check executable file version
    Locate the main executable (acrord32.exe for Reader or acrobat.exe for Acrobat) in the installation directory, right-click the file, select Properties, and examine the Details tab for the Product version.
    Affected if The product version shown is 9.0.x, 9.1.x, 9.2.x, 9.3.x, or 9.4.x; or 10.0.x through 10.1.6; or 11.0.00 through 11.0.02

A user is affected if Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat is installed with any version from 9.0 through 9.4.x, 10.0 through 10.1.6, or 11.0 through 11.0.02.

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 and Acrobat to version 9.5.5, 10.1.7, or 11.0.03 or later to remediate this critical vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

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

  1. 1. Determine current Adobe Reader or Acrobat version by opening the application and navigating to Help > About Adobe Reader/Acrobat
  2. 2. Navigate to the Adobe Security Bulletin APSB13-15 at http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb13-15.html to obtain the appropriate patch
  3. 3. For Adobe Reader/Acrobat 9.x versions: download and install version 9.5.5 or later
  4. 4. For Adobe Reader/Acrobat 10.x versions: download and install version 10.1.7 or later
  5. 5. For Adobe Reader/Acrobat 11.x versions: download and install version 11.0.03 or later
  6. 6. Restart the application and verify the installed version matches or exceeds the target fixed version
Caveat Security updates may have compatibility implications with older PDF workflows or third-party plugins; test in non-production environment before wide deployment

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
Get the patch applied

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

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-2013-2731 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
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