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AcrobatApplication · Adobe

CVE-2016-6968

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 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 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-2016-1089, CVE-2016-1091, CVE-2016-6944, CVE-2016-6945, CVE-2016-6946, CVE-2016-6949, CVE-2016-6952, CVE-2016-6953, CVE-2016-6961, CVE-2016-6962, CVE-2016-6963, CVE-2016-6964, CVE-2016-6965, CVE-2016-6967, CVE-2016-6969, CVE-2016-6971, CVE-2016-6979, CVE-2016-6988, and CVE-2016-6993.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-416

Memory is used after it has been freed, so its contents — now potentially attacker-controlled — drive the program's behaviour. With careful heap grooming this becomes code execution. The fix requires disciplined ownership of memory and often a targeted rework of the object lifecycle.

General guidance for the use after free class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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

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
Vendor patch helpx.adobe.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

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

  1. 1. Close all Adobe Acrobat or Reader instances currently running on the system
  2. 2. Navigate to the Adobe Acrobat Reader download page at https://get.adobe.com/reader/ or use your organization's software distribution method
  3. 3. Download the appropriate version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (Continuous) or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (Classic) based on your current deployment
  4. 4. Alternatively, for enterprise deployment, download from https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/acrobat/apsb16-33.html which contains the patch APSB16-33
  5. 5. Run the installer and complete the installation process
  6. 6. Verify the installed version matches one of the fixed releases: 11.0.18, 15.006.30243 (Classic), or 15.020.20039 (Continuous)
  7. 7. Restart any applications that utilize Adobe PDF functionality

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

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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-2016-6968 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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