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AcrobatApplication · Adobe

CVE-2016-6939

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-10-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 15.017.20053 or later.
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
Heap-based buffer overflow in Adobe Reader and Acrobat before 11.0.18, Acrobat and Acrobat Reader DC Classic before 15.006.30243, and Acrobat and Acrobat Reader DC Continuous before 15.020.20039 on Windows and OS X allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2016-6994.

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

Heap-based buffer overflow in Adobe Reader and Acrobat allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors on Windows and OS X. This affects versions before 11.0.18, DC Classic before 15.006.30243, and DC Continuous before 15.020.20039.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Reader and Acrobat to the patched versions (11.0.18, 15.006.30243, or 15.020.20039 or later) to remediate 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
AcrobatApplication
Affected:<= 11.0.17
Acrobat DcApplication
Affected:<= 15.006.30201<= 15.017.20053
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:<= 15.006.30201<= 15.017.20053
ReaderApplication
Affected:<= 11.0.17

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Adobe product
    Open Adobe Reader or Acrobat, then go to Help > About (or on Windows, check Programs and Features for the exact product name - Acrobat, Acrobat Reader, Acrobat DC, or Reader DC)
    Affected if The product is Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat (any DC variant)
  2. Determine installed version number
    In the product, go to Help > About Adobe [Product]. The version displays in the format like 11.0.17 or 15.xx.xxxxx. On Windows, you can also check the registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe [Product]\InstallPath\InstallVersion
    Affected if Version is visible and matches the product line
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    For standard Acrobat/Reader 11.x: check if version <= 11.0.17. For Acrobat/Reader DC Classic (15.xxxx.30xxx): check if version <= 15.006.30201. For Acrobat/Reader DC Continuous (15.xxxx.20xxx): check if version <= 15.017.20053
    Affected if Installed version falls at or below any of these thresholds: 11.0.17, 15.006.30201 (Classic), or 15.017.20053 (Continuous)

If Adobe Reader or Acrobat is installed and the version number is 11.0.17 or lower, 15.006.30201 or lower (DC Classic), or 15.017.20053 or lower (DC Continuous), the environment is vulnerable to CVE-2016-6939.

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 a release after 15.017.20053
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Reader and Acrobat to the patched versions (11.0.18, 15.006.30243, or 15.020.20039 or later) to remediate the vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Acrobat/Reader 11.0.18, Acrobat/Reader DC Classic 15.006.30243, or Acrobat/Reader DC Continuous 15.020.20039

  1. Identify the specific Adobe product installed (Acrobat, Acrobat Reader DC, or Reader) and its exact version number
  2. Determine the track version: Classic (2015) or Continuous for Acrobat/Reader DC
  3. For Acrobat/Reader 11.x: Upgrade to version 11.0.18
  4. For Acrobat/Reader DC Classic (2015): Upgrade to version 15.006.30243
  5. For Acrobat/Reader DC Continuous: Upgrade to version 15.020.20039
  6. Download the appropriate fixed version from the Adobe Security Bulletins page (helpx.adobe.com)
  7. Close all Adobe applications and run the installer to apply the security update
  8. Verify the installed version matches the target fixed version

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

Fix this in Acrobat Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2016-6939 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