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AcrobatApplication · Adobe

CVE-2017-16362

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-12-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 17.012.20098 or later.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
An issue was discovered in Adobe Acrobat and Reader: 2017.012.20098 and earlier versions, 2017.011.30066 and earlier versions, 2015.006.30355 and earlier versions, and 11.0.22 and earlier versions. This vulnerability is an instance of an out of bounds read vulnerability in the MakeAccesible plugin, when handling font data. It causes an out of bounds memory access, which sometimes triggers an access violation exception. Attackers can exploit the vulnerability by using the out of bounds access for unintended reads, writes, or frees, potentially leading to code corruption, control-flow hijack, or an information leak 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

This is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader's MakeAccessible plugin when processing font data. The vulnerability allows reading memory beyond allocated boundaries, which can trigger access violations and potentially enable code corruption, control-flow hijacking, or information disclosure attacks.

MitigationApply the vendor patches by updating Adobe Acrobat and Reader to versions beyond 2017.012.20098, 2017.011.30066, 2015.006.30355, and 11.0.22. Organizations should deploy these updates through their patch management systems.

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:<= 11.0.22>= 17.0, <= 17.011.30066
Acrobat DcApplication
Affected:>= -, <= 17.012.20098>= 15.0, <= 15.006.30355
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:<= 11.0.22>= 17.0, <= 17.011.30066
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= -, <= 17.012.20098>= 15.0, <= 15.006.30355

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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. Check if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    On Windows, open Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\ or check Program Files for Adobe Acrobat/Reader folders. On macOS, check /Applications for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader.
    Affected if Either Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader is present on the system
  2. Identify the installed product and version
    In Windows Registry, check the Version or VersionNumber value under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\<version> or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Reader\<version>. Alternatively, right-click the executable in Program Files\Adobe\...\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe or Reader\...\AcroRd32.exe, select Properties, and view the File Version.
    Affected if The version cannot be determined or does not match the installed product key
  3. Compare the installed version against affected ranges
    Match your installed version to these vulnerable ranges: Acrobat/Reader 11.0.22 and lower; versions 17.0 through 17.011.30066; versions 15.0 through 15.006.30355; Acrobat/Reader DC versions through 17.012.20098. Note the exact version number from step 2 and compare.
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: <=11.0.22, 17.0-17.011.30066, 15.0-15.006.30355, or <=17.012.20098 for DC variants
  4. Verify the MakeAccessible plugin is present
    Navigate to the installation directory (for example, Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 11.0\Acrobat\plug_ins or similar path for your version). Look for a file named MakeAccessible.api or MakeAccessible.plugin.
    Affected if The MakeAccessible plugin file exists in the application plugins directory

If Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed and the version falls within the affected ranges listed above, the system is vulnerable to CVE-2017-16362.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 17.012.20098
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor patches by updating Adobe Acrobat and Reader to versions beyond 2017.012.20098, 2017.011.30066, 2015.006.30355, and 11.0.22. Organizations should deploy these updates through their patch management systems.

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-2017-16362 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