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AcrobatApplication · Adobe

CVE-2015-5101

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-07-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.1.15 / 11.0.12 or later.
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
Use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 10.x before 10.1.15 and 11.x before 11.0.12, Acrobat and Acrobat Reader DC Classic before 2015.006.30060, and Acrobat and Acrobat Reader DC Continuous before 2015.008.20082 on Windows and OS X allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-4448, CVE-2015-5095, CVE-2015-5099, CVE-2015-5111, CVE-2015-5113, and CVE-2015-5114.

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

Use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Reader and Acrobat allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors. Affects versions 10.x before 10.1.15, 11.x before 11.0.12, and Acrobat/Acrobat Reader DC versions before 2015.006.30060 (Classic) and 2015.008.20082 (Continuous) on Windows and OS X.

MitigationApply vendor patches: upgrade to Adobe Reader/Acrobat 10.1.15, 11.0.12, DC Classic 2015.006.30060, or DC Continuous 2015.008.20082 or later.

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, < 10.1.15>= 11.0.0, < 11.0.12
Acrobat DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.006.30033, < 15.006.30060>= 15.007.20033, < 15.008.20082
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:>= 10.0, < 10.1.15>= 11.0.0, < 11.0.12
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.006.30033, < 15.006.30060>= 15.007.20033, < 15.008.20082

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 product
    Check if Adobe Reader or Acrobat is installed. On Windows, open Programs and Features or check the installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Adobe\). On Mac, check /Applications for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader.
    Affected if Adobe Reader or Acrobat is present on the system
  2. Determine exact version number
    For Windows: Right-click the Adobe executable (e.g., AcroRd32.exe or AcroTray.exe), select Properties, and view the Details tab for the version. For Mac: Right-click the application in /Applications, select Get Info, and view the version under Version. Alternatively, open Adobe Acrobat/Reader and go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader.
    Affected if A version number is obtained from the software
  3. Compare version to affected ranges
    Match your installed version against the vulnerable ranges: 10.x before 10.1.15, 11.x before 11.0.12, DC Classic before 2015.006.30060, or DC Continuous before 2015.008.20082.
    Affected if Installed version is 10.x < 10.1.15, 11.x < 11.0.12, 15.006.30033 <= version < 15.006.30060 (Classic), or 15.007.20033 <= version < 15.008.20082 (Continuous)
  4. Verify DC track type if applicable
    For DC versions (15.x), determine if the installation is Classic or Continuous track. Check the Adobe application menu (Help > About Adobe Acrobat DC) or examine the installation folder name for indicators of the track type.
    Affected if Running a DC version and unable to distinguish between Classic and Continuous tracks to apply the correct version comparison

A user is affected if Adobe Reader or Acrobat is installed with a version matching any of the vulnerable ranges: 10.x before 10.1.15, 11.x before 11.0.12, DC Classic before 2015.006.30060, or DC Continuous before 2015.008.20082.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 10.1.15 / 11.0.12 / 15.006.30060 or later
Fixed in 10.1.1511.0.1215.006.30060
Vendor patch helpx.adobe.com →
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor patches: upgrade to Adobe Reader/Acrobat 10.1.15, 11.0.12, DC Classic 2015.006.30060, or DC Continuous 2015.008.20082 or later.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Adobe Acrobat/Reader 10.1.15, 11.0.12, DC Classic 2015.006.30060, or DC Continuous 2015.008.20082 (depending on your product line and version)

  1. Identify the installed Adobe product (Acrobat or Acrobat Reader), version, and track (Classic or Continuous) from the Help > About menu
  2. Navigate to the Adobe security bulletin at https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/reader/apsb15-15.html
  3. Download the appropriate security update for your product version: for Acrobat/Reader 10.x use 10.1.15, for 11.x use 11.0.12, for DC Classic use 2015.006.30060, for DC Continuous use 2015.008.20082
  4. Close all Adobe applications and any web browsers with PDF plugins
  5. Run the downloaded installer to apply the security update
  6. Restart the system after installation completes
  7. Verify the installed version matches the target fixed version using Help > About
Caveat Standard minor version update; verify compatibility with any integrated PDF workflows or plugins

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

Fix this in Acrobat Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
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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-2015-5101 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