CVE-2014-0546
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 · uneditedAdobe Reader and Acrobat 10.x before 10.1.11 and 11.x before 11.0.08 on Windows allow attackers to bypass a sandbox protection mechanism, and consequently execute native code in a privileged context, via unspecified vectors.
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 · moderate confidenceThis is a sandbox bypass vulnerability in Adobe Reader and Acrobat versions 10.x before 10.1.11 and 11.x before 11.0.08 on Windows. Attackers can circumvent the sandbox protection mechanism and execute native code in a privileged context, leading to complete system compromise.
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>= 10.0, < 10.1.11>= 11.0, < 11.0.08>= 10.0, < 10.1.11>= 11.0, < 11.0.08CVSS 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
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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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Check if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installedOpen Command Prompt and run: wmic product where "name like 'Adobe%'" get name,versionAffected if No Adobe products are listed, the system is not affected by this CVE
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Identify the exact Adobe product versionOpen Adobe Reader or Acrobat, go to Help > About Adobe Reader/Acrobat, or check the version in Programs and FeaturesAffected if Version displays as 10.x (where x is any build below 10.1.11) or 11.x (where x is any build below 11.0.08)
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Query installed version via command lineRun: wmic product where "name like 'Adobe Acrobat%' or name like 'Adobe Reader%'" get name,versionAffected if Version returned is less than 10.1.11 (for 10.x versions) or less than 11.0.08 (for 11.x versions)
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Verify the sandbox feature statusThe vulnerability affects the sandbox protection. No user-configurable check exists; version is the definitive indicator of exposureAffected if Running a vulnerable version confirms the sandbox can potentially be bypassed
If Adobe Acrobat or Reader version is 10.0 through 10.1.10, or 11.0 through 11.0.07 on Windows, the sandbox bypass vulnerability is present and the system is affected.
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.
dbcve · scoped10.1.1111.0.08
Apply the vendor-supplied security updates (Adobe Reader/Acrobat 10.1.11 or later for v10.x, and 11.0.08 or later for v11.x) or upgrade to the latest patched versions.
Acrobat/Reader 10.1.11 (for 10.x branch); Acrobat/Reader 11.0.08 (for 11.x branch)
- Identify currently installed Adobe Acrobat or Reader version from Help > About menu
- For Adobe Acrobat/Reader 10.x users: Download and install version 10.1.11 from the official Adobe website
- For Adobe Acrobat/Reader 11.x users: Download and install version 11.0.08 from the official Adobe website
- Verify the update was successful by checking Help > About to confirm the version number
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-0546 — 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-2014-0546 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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- 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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