CVE-2013-3553
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 · uneditedNitro Pro 7.5.0.22 and earlier and Nitro Reader 2.5.0.36 and earlier allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted PDF file.
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 confidenceBuffer overflow or similar memory corruption vulnerability in Nitro Pro 7.5.0.22 and earlier and Nitro Reader 2.5.0.36 and earlier allows remote attackers to achieve arbitrary code execution via a specially crafted PDF file. Opening the malicious PDF triggers the 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<= 7.5.0.22<= 2.5.0.36CVSS 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:3.0/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Nitro productCheck system for Nitro Pro or Nitro Reader applications. On Windows, look in Program Files for 'Nitro Pro' or 'Nitro Reader' folders, or check Add/Remove Programs list.Affected if Either Nitro Pro or Nitro Reader is present on the system
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Determine Nitro Pro versionIf Nitro Pro is installed, locate its version number. In Windows, right-click the application in Add/Remove Programs and select Properties, or launch the application and navigate to Help > About Nitro Pro.Affected if Version is 7.5.0.22 or earlier
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Determine Nitro Reader versionIf Nitro Reader is installed, locate its version number. In Windows, right-click the application in Add/Remove Programs and select Properties, or launch the application and navigate to Help > About Nitro Reader.Affected if Version is 2.5.0.36 or earlier
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Verify PDF handling configurationCheck if Nitro is set as the default PDF handler or if users commonly open PDF files with Nitro. This can be checked via default application settings in Windows or by querying which application handles .pdf file associations.Affected if Nitro is configured to open PDF files and a user could be tricked into opening a malicious PDF
The environment is affected if Nitro Pro version 7.5.0.22 or earlier, or Nitro Reader version 2.5.0.36 or earlier, is installed and configured to open PDF documents.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor dataUpdate Nitro Pro and Nitro Reader to versions newer than 7.5.0.22 and 2.5.0.36 respectively. Organizations should inventory all systems with these products and deploy the patched versions, or consider alternative PDF readers if updates are unavailable.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-3553 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2013-3553 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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