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AcrobatApplication · Adobe

CVE-2017-16373

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 this scenario, the input is crafted in 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

Adobe Acrobat and Reader contain an untrusted pointer dereference vulnerability where crafted input causes the application to read from memory locations outside the process address space, potentially exposing sensitive data. This is a read-based memory disclosure issue affecting multiple version branches up to the specified versions.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched versions provided by Adobe's security updates to remediate this 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
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, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or Reader) to see the exact product name and version number. On Windows, you can also check Add/Remove Programs or the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe for the installed product and version.
    Affected if The product is Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader (either Classic or DC variant)
  2. Determine the version number
    Note the full version number displayed (for example, 11.0.22, 17.011.30066, 15.006.30355, or 17.012.20098). This is typically shown as three numeric segments for the 11.x branch or three numeric segments for the 15.x/17.x branches.
    Affected if Any version is shown - you need the exact number to compare against affected ranges
  3. Compare against affected version ranges
    Match your installed version against these affected ranges: Acrobat/Reader 11.x: <= 11.0.22; Acrobat/Reader 17.x: >= 17.0, <= 17.011.30066; Acrobat/Reader DC (15.x): >= 15.0, <= 15.006.30355; Acrobat/Reader DC (17.x): <= 17.012.20098. Classic DC uses 15.x branch, Continuous DC uses 17.x branch.
    Affected if Your installed version falls within any of these ranges: 11.x <= 11.0.22, 15.x <= 15.006.30355, 17.x <= 17.011.30066 (Classic) or <= 17.012.20098 (Continuous)
  4. Assess exposure to crafted PDF files
    Determine if the application is used to open PDF files from untrusted or external sources. The vulnerability is triggered when processing specially crafted PDF content that causes the untrusted pointer dereference.
    Affected if Users routinely open PDF files from email attachments, web downloads, or other untrusted sources without additional validation
  5. Check for security update installation
    In the application, go to Help > Check for Updates to see if a newer version has been installed. Alternatively, check Adobe's security bulletin APSB17-36 for the patched versions.
    Affected if No security updates have been applied and the version remains in the affected ranges

You are affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed and the version falls within the 11.x, 15.x, or 17.x branches up to the patched versions (11.0.23, 17.011.30067, 15.006.30356, or 17.012.20099 and later).

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 patched versions provided by Adobe's security updates to remediate this vulnerability.

Fix this in Acrobat Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,760
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,416.

Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2017-16373 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