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Acrobat ReaderApplication · Adobe

CVE-2013-2736

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-2013-2731, CVE-2013-2732, CVE-2013-2734, CVE-2013-2735, 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 versions 9.x before 9.5.5, 10.x before 10.1.7, and 11.x before 11.0.03 contain a memory corruption vulnerability allowing remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via unspecified vectors, likely involving malformed PDF content.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Reader and Acrobat to version 9.5.5, 10.1.7, or 11.0.03 or later to remediate this 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. Identify installed Adobe Reader version
    Open Adobe Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Reader, or right-click the AcroRd32.exe file in the installation folder and select Properties > Details to view the Product Version
    Affected if The version shown is 9.0 through 9.4, 10.0 through 10.1.6, or 11.0 through 11.0.02
  2. Identify installed Adobe Acrobat version
    Open Adobe Acrobat, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat, or locate the AcroBAF.exe file in the installation folder and check its Properties > Details for the Product Version
    Affected if The version shown is 9.0 through 9.4, 10.0 through 10.1.6, or 11.0 through 11.0.02
  3. Query Adobe version via Windows Registry
    Open Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\Reader\X\Version (replace X with the installed version number, such as 9.0 or 10.0), or run 'reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat" /s' from command prompt
    Affected if The Version value in the registry is 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, or 9.4 (for Reader) or the equivalent Acrobat versions within the 9.x, 10.x, or 11.x families before the fixed releases

If Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat is installed and the installed version is any release from 9.0 through 9.4, 10.0 through 10.1.6, or 11.0 through 11.0.02, the environment is vulnerable to CVE-2013-2736.

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 vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Reader/Acrobat 9.5.5+, 10.1.7+, or 11.0.03+ (choose the major version matching your current installation)

  1. 1. Identify the currently installed Adobe Reader or Acrobat version from the Help > About menu
  2. 2. Download the patched version from Adobe's official website or your organization's software distribution point
  3. 3. For Adobe Reader: Upgrade to version 9.5.5 or later (if on 9.x), 10.1.7 or later (if on 10.x), or 11.0.03 or later (if on 11.x)
  4. 4. For Adobe Acrobat: Upgrade to version 9.5.5 or later (if on 9.x), 10.1.7 or later (if on 10.x), or 11.0.03 or later (if on 11.x)
  5. 5. Close all Adobe applications before installing the update
  6. 6. Run the installer with appropriate administrator privileges
  7. 7. Verify the installed version matches the patched release after installation
Caveat Ensure compatibility with your operating system; older OS versions may not support the newer Adobe releases; backup PDF settings if needed

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
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,720
Get the patch applied

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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-2013-2736 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