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AcrobatApplication · Adobe

CVE-2017-16377

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 due to a computation that accesses a pointer that has not been initialized in the main DLL. In this case, a computation defines a read from an unexpected memory location. Therefore, an attacker might be able to read sensitive portions of memory.

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

An uninitialized pointer vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader allows a computation to read from an unexpected memory location due to accessing a pointer that was never properly initialized in the main DLL. This information disclosure could expose sensitive memory contents to an attacker.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat and Reader to versions newer than 2017.012.20098, 2017.011.30066, 2015.006.30355, or 11.0.22 to patch 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. Confirm Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    Check for the application in the system: On Windows, look in Program Files for 'Adobe' folder or check registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall for Adobe entries. On macOS, check /Applications for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader is not installed on the system, this CVE does not apply.
  2. Identify the exact product and version
    Open Adobe Acrobat or Reader, then go to Help > About (or press Ctrl+H). Alternatively, on Windows, run: reg query 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat' /v version or check the version key under the product's registry folder. Note whether it is Acrobat (Standard/Pro), Acrobat DC, Reader, or Reader DC.
    Affected if The product is not Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader, this CVE does not apply.
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    Match your installed version against these vulnerable ranges: Acrobat <= 11.0.22 or 17.0 to 17.011.30066; Acrobat DC 15.0 to 15.006.30355 or up to 17.012.20098; Reader <= 11.0.22 or 17.0 to 17.011.30066; Reader DC 15.0 to 15.006.30355 or up to 17.012.20098. If your version matches any of these ranges, the system is potentially affected.
    Affected if Your installed version falls within any of the listed vulnerable version ranges, making the uninitialized pointer flaw present.
  4. Verify the main DLL component is present
    Confirm the core DLL files exist: On Windows, check for AcroRd32.dll (Reader) or AcroEdit.dll/Acrobat.dll (Acrobat) in the installation directory, typically under Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat XX or Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Reader XX. The vulnerability exists in the main DLL referenced in the CVE.
    Affected if The core application DLLs are missing or severely modified, the specific attack surface may not exist, though this is unlikely in a normal installation.

If Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed with a version matching 11.0.22 or below, 15.0-15.006.30355, 17.0-17.011.30066, or up to 17.012.20098 (depending on product type), the environment is affected by this uninitialized pointer information disclosure vulnerability.

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 2017.012.20098, 2017.011.30066, 2015.006.30355, or 11.0.22 to patch this vulnerability.

Fix this in Acrobat Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2017-16377 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