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AcrobatApplication · Adobe

CVE-2014-0523

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-05-14
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 10.x before 10.1.10 and 11.x before 11.0.07 on Windows and OS X allow attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2014-0522, CVE-2014-0524, and CVE-2014-0526.

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

This is a memory corruption vulnerability in Adobe Reader and Acrobat that allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service. The vulnerability affects versions 10.x before 10.1.10 and 11.x before 11.0.07 on Windows and OS X systems.

MitigationUpgrade Adobe Reader and Acrobat to version 10.1.10 or later for the 10.x line, or 11.0.07 or later for the 11.x line.

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:= 10.0= 10.0.1= 10.0.2= 10.0.3= 10.1= 10.1.1= 10.1.2= 10.1.3= 10.1.4= 10.1.5= 10.1.6= 10.1.7
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:= 10.0= 10.0.1= 10.0.2= 10.0.3= 10.1= 10.1.1= 10.1.2= 10.1.3= 10.1.4= 10.1.5= 10.1.6= 10.1.7

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. Verify Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    Check for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader in the installed programs list (Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or OS X Applications folder)
    Affected if Either Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader is present on the system
  2. Determine the installed Adobe Acrobat version
    Open Adobe Acrobat, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat to display the version number. Alternatively, check the executable file properties or the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\[Version]
    Affected if The displayed version is 10.0 through 10.1.9, or any 11.x version before 11.0.07
  3. Determine the installed Adobe Reader version
    Open Adobe Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Reader to display the version number. Alternatively, check the executable file properties or the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Reader\[Version]
    Affected if The displayed version is 10.0 through 10.1.9, or any 11.x version before 11.0.07
  4. Compare against affected version ranges
    If the version begins with 10.x, ensure it is 10.1.10 or later. If the version begins with 11.x, ensure it is 11.0.07 or later. Versions outside these ranges are affected by this vulnerability
    Affected if The installed version is any 10.x version earlier than 10.1.10, or any 11.x version earlier than 11.0.07

The environment is affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader version 10.x is earlier than 10.1.10, or version 11.x is earlier than 11.0.07.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Adobe Reader and Acrobat to version 10.1.10 or later for the 10.x line, or 11.0.07 or later for the 11.x line.

Recommended fix High confidence

Acrobat/Reader 10.x to 10.1.10 or later; Acrobat/Reader 11.x to 11.0.07 or later

  1. 1. Open Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader and navigate to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat) to confirm the current installed version
  2. 2. Close all Adobe applications before updating
  3. 3. Visit the official Adobe security updates page at https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/reader-apsb14-15.html to download the appropriate security update
  4. 4. For Acrobat/Reader 10.x: Download and install security update 10.1.10
  5. 5. For Acrobat/Reader 11.x: Download and install security update 11.0.07
  6. 6. Alternatively, use Adobe's automatic update feature: Help > Check for Updates and follow the prompts
  7. 7. After installation, verify the version by returning to Help > About to confirm the update was successful
Caveat Standard minor version update with security fixes; minimal risk of breaking changes typical for patch releases

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

Fix this in Acrobat 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
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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-2014-0523 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