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AcrobatApplication · Adobe

CVE-2017-16366

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-12-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 17.012.20098 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
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 a security bypass vulnerability in the AcroPDF plugin.

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 · moderate confidence

This is a security bypass vulnerability in the AcroPDF plugin of Adobe Acrobat and Reader. The vulnerability affects multiple older versions (2017.012.20098 and earlier, 2017.011.30066 and earlier, 2015.006.30355 and earlier, and 11.0.22 and earlier), allowing attackers to potentially bypass security restrictions in the PDF rendering component.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest version to patch the AcroPDF plugin 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:<= 11.0.22>= 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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

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 for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader installation on the system. On Windows, this can be done by looking in Add/Remove Programs or searching for Acrobat or Reader in installed programs.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
  2. Determine product version
    Open Adobe Acrobat or Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or Reader) to display the exact version number. Alternatively, on Windows check the version in the program's properties or the Adobe documentation for command-line version querying.
    Affected if The displayed version falls within these ranges: 11.0.22 or earlier, 17.0 to 17.011.30066, 15.0 to 15.006.30355, or 17.012.20098 or earlier, depending on the specific product and channel (Acrobat vs Reader, Classic vs Continuous)
  3. Confirm AcroPDF plugin presence
    The AcroPDF plugin (AcroPDF.dll) is bundled with Adobe Acrobat and Reader. Check if the application loads the PDF rendering component. This can be observed by opening a PDF file and verifying the application renders it using the built-in PDF engine.
    Affected if The AcroPDF plugin is present and active in the installation
  4. Compare against affected version ranges
    Match your installed version to the affected ranges provided: Acrobat and Reader versions <= 11.0.22 are affected; versions 17.0 through 17.011.30066 are affected; Acrobat Dc and Reader Dc versions <= 17.012.20098 and versions 15.0 through 15.006.30355 are affected.
    Affected if The installed version matches any of these affected version ranges

You are affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed with a version matching any of the specified vulnerable ranges AND the AcroPDF plugin is present and enabled for PDF rendering.

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

Update Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest version to patch the AcroPDF plugin vulnerability.

Fix this in Acrobat Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,690
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,304.

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-2017-16366 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