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AcrobatApplication · Adobe

CVE-2017-16371

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 issue is due to an untrusted pointer dereference in the JavaScript engine. In this scenario, the input is crafted in a way that the computation results in pointers to memory locations that do not belong to the relevant process address space. The dereferencing operation is a read operation, and an attack can result in sensitive data exposure.

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

An untrusted pointer dereference vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader's JavaScript engine allows crafted JavaScript input to read from memory locations outside the process address space, potentially exposing sensitive data.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat and Reader to versions newer than the specified vulnerable releases (post-2017.012.20098, 2017.011.30066, 2015.006.30355, and 11.0.22) to incorporate the security patch for this untrusted pointer dereference.

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. Identify installed Adobe product
    Open Adobe Acrobat or Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or Reader) to view the exact version number. Alternatively, locate the application in Programs and Features (Windows) or Applications folder (Mac).
    Affected if The product is Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader (any variant: Classic or DC)
  2. Determine the version number
    Record the full version string displayed in the About dialog (for example: 11.0.22, 17.011.30066, 15.006.30355, or 17.012.20098).
    Affected if The version falls within these ranges: 11.0.22 or lower; 17.0 through 17.011.30066; 15.0 through 15.006.30355; 17.012.20098 or lower (for DC variants)
  3. Check if JavaScript is enabled
    In Acrobat/Reader, go to Edit > Preferences > JavaScript. Verify if the 'Enable Adobe JavaScript' checkbox is checked.
    Affected if JavaScript is enabled (the checkbox is checked), as the vulnerability exploits the JavaScript engine
  4. Confirm product variant and build
    Determine if the installation is Acrobat or Reader, and whether it is the Classic or DC version. This can be seen in the application name in the Start menu or About dialog.
    Affected if The product matches any of the affected variants: Acrobat <= 11.0.22; Acrobat >= 17.0 <= 17.011.30066; Acrobat DC <= 17.012.20098 or >= 15.0 <= 15.006.30355; Reader <= 11.0.22; Reader >= 17.0 <= 17.011.30066; Reader DC <= 17.012.20098 or >= 15.0 <= 15.006.30355

You are affected if you have Adobe Acrobat or Reader installed with JavaScript enabled and the version number falls within the vulnerable ranges listed.

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 versions newer than the specified vulnerable releases (post-2017.012.20098, 2017.011.30066, 2015.006.30355, and 11.0.22) to incorporate the security patch for this untrusted pointer dereference.

Fix this in Acrobat Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-2017-16371 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