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AcrobatApplication · Adobe

CVE-2013-3356

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-09-12
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
Buffer overflow in Adobe Reader and Acrobat before 10.1.8 and 11.x before 11.0.04 on Windows and Mac OS X allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2013-3353.

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

A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in Adobe Reader and Acrobat versions prior to 10.1.8 on Windows and Mac OS X, and versions prior to 11.0.04. The flaw allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, making it critically severe given the CVSS score of 10.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Reader and Acrobat to version 10.1.8 or later, and 11.0.04 or later respectively, to remediate this buffer overflow 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
AcrobatApplication
Affected:= 11.0= 11.0.1= 11.0.2= 11.0.3= 10.0= 10.0.1= 10.0.2= 10.0.3= 10.1= 10.1.1= 10.1.2= 10.1.3
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:= 11.0= 11.0.1= 11.0.2= 11.0.3= 10.0= 10.0.1= 10.0.2= 10.0.3= 10.1= 10.1.1= 10.1.2= 10.1.3

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 if Adobe Reader or Acrobat is installed
    On Windows, check Start menu for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader entries, or look in Program Files. On Mac, check /Applications folder for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader.
    Affected if Either Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader is present on the system
  2. Determine the installed version on Windows
    Open Adobe Reader or Acrobat, go to Help > About Adobe Reader/Acrobat, or check the Windows registry key at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\version or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Reader\version
    Affected if The displayed version matches 10.0.x, 10.1.x (through 10.1.3), or 11.0.x (through 11.0.3)
  3. Determine the installed version on Mac OS X
    Open Adobe Reader or Acrobat, go to Adobe Reader/Acrobat > About Adobe Reader/Acrobat, or right-click the application in /Applications and select Get Info to view the version
    Affected if The displayed version matches 10.0.x, 10.1.x (through 10.1.3), or 11.0.x (through 11.0.3)
  4. Compare against affected version list
    If version is 10.x, verify it is 10.0, 10.0.1, 10.0.2, 10.0.3, 10.1, 10.1.1, 10.1.2, or 10.1.3. If version is 11.x, verify it is 11.0, 11.0.1, 11.0.2, or 11.0.3.
    Affected if The installed version exactly matches one of the listed affected versions

The environment is affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader version 10.1.3 or earlier (10.x series), or version 11.0.3 or earlier (11.x series) is installed on Windows or Mac OS X.

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 10.1.8 or later, and 11.0.04 or later respectively, to remediate this buffer overflow vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat/Reader 11.0.04 or later (or latest 11.x release)

  1. 1. Close all Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader instances currently running
  2. 2. Navigate to the official Adobe download page or the vendor security bulletin at http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb13-22.html
  3. 3. Download Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader version 11.0.04 or later (or the latest available version for 11.x)
  4. 4. Run the downloaded installer
  5. 5. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation
  6. 6. Restart the computer if prompted
  7. 7. Verify the installed version by opening Adobe Reader/Acrobat and checking Help > About Adobe Reader/Acrobat
Caveat Standard upgrade - may have minor compatibility changes with older PDF forms or scripts; ensure critical PDF workflows are tested after upgrade

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

Fix this in Acrobat Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
30.0 hours of engineering $5,280
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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-2013-3356 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