dbcve.org
Acrobat ReaderApplication · Adobe

CVE-2014-0568

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-09-17
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
The NtSetInformationFile system call hook feature in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 10.x before 10.1.12 and 11.x before 11.0.09 on Windows allows attackers to bypass a sandbox protection mechanism, and consequently execute native code in a privileged context, via an NTFS junction attack.

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 on Windows contain a vulnerability in the NtSetInformationFile system call hook within their sandbox protection mechanism. Attackers can bypass this sandbox by exploiting NTFS junction attacks, allowing execution of native code in a privileged context with full system-level access.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Reader and Acrobat to version 10.1.12 or later (for 10.x) and 11.0.09 or later (for 11.x) to patch the sandbox bypass 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:= 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
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

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, go to Help > About Adobe Reader, or right-click the Adobe Reader shortcut and select Properties, then check the version field under the Details tab. Alternatively, check the registry key at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Reader\10.0\InstallPath for the version value.
    Affected if The installed version matches any of these: 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, or 10.1.7.
  2. Identify installed Adobe Acrobat version
    Open Adobe Acrobat, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat, or check the registry key at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\10.0\InstallPath for the version value.
    Affected if The installed version matches any of these: 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, or 10.1.7.
  3. Verify sandbox protection is enabled
    Check if the Adobe sandbox is active by examining the running processes. Look for process names containing 'sandbox' or 'RdrCEF' in Task Manager. Alternatively, check registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\10.0\FeatureLockdown for a value named bSandbox.
    Affected if The Adobe sandbox is enabled or the bSandbox registry value is set to 1, and the version falls within the affected range.

A user is affected if they have Adobe Reader or Acrobat version 10.0 through 10.1.7 installed on Windows with the sandbox protection mechanism enabled.

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 helpx.adobe.com →
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Reader and Acrobat to version 10.1.12 or later (for 10.x) and 11.0.09 or later (for 11.x) to patch the sandbox bypass vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Reader/Acrobat 10.1.12 or later (10.x users); Adobe Reader/Acrobat 11.0.09 or later (11.x users)

  1. 1. Check current Adobe Reader or Acrobat version by opening the application and navigating to Help > About Adobe Reader/Acrobat
  2. 2. Download the appropriate patched version from the official Adobe security bulletin at http://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/reader/apsb14-20.html
  3. 3. For Adobe Reader/Acrobat 10.x users: Download and install version 10.1.12 or later
  4. 4. For Adobe Reader/Acrobat 11.x users: Download and install version 11.0.09 or later
  5. 5. Verify the update was successful by checking the version again after installation
Caveat Users should review the Adobe security bulletin for any specific compatibility notes or known issues before applying the update

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

Fix this in Acrobat Reader Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
Get the patch applied

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-0568 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2014-0568 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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