CVE-2017-16391
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 · uneditedAn 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. The vulnerability is a result of untrusted input that is used to calculate an array index; the calculation occurs in the printing functionality. The vulnerability leads to an operation that can write to a memory location that is outside of the memory addresses allocated for the data structure. The specific scenario leads to a write access to a memory location that does not belong to the relevant process address space.
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 confidenceOut-of-bounds write vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader's printing functionality where untrusted input is used to calculate an array index, allowing writes to memory locations outside the allocated buffer. This is a memory corruption flaw that can potentially be exploited for arbitrary code execution.
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<= 11.0.22>= 17.0, <= 17.011.30066>= -, <= 17.012.20098>= 15.0, <= 15.006.30355<= 11.0.22>= 17.0, <= 17.011.30066>= -, <= 17.012.20098>= 15.0, <= 15.006.30355CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the installed Adobe product and versionOpen Adobe Acrobat or Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or similar) to view the exact version number. Alternatively, check the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat Reader for the version value.Affected if The version displayed does not match the product name shown in About, or if the version falls within the affected ranges listed in the CVE (classic: <= 11.0.22 or >= 17.0 through 17.011.30066; DC: <= 17.012.20098 or >= 15.0 through 15.006.30355).
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Determine if the product is a DC variantCheck the product name displayed in the About dialog or in the Windows registry under the InstalledProducts key. The DC variants include 'Acrobat Dc' or 'Reader Dc' in the product name.Affected if The product is Acrobat Dc or Reader Dc and the version is <= 17.012.20098 OR >= 15.0 through <= 15.006.30355.
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Confirm classic (non-DC) product versionIf the product is the classic version (not DC), verify the exact version number matches the affected range. Check Help > About for the precise version string.Affected if The product is Acrobat or Reader (non-DC) and the version is <= 11.0.22 OR >= 17.0 through <= 17.011.30066.
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Verify printing functionality is accessibleConfirm that the printing feature is available in the installed version. Attempt to access File > Print or use Ctrl+P to verify the print dialog can be invoked.Affected if The printing feature is present and the version is within the affected ranges - the vulnerability is in the printing functionality.
A user is affected if they have Adobe Acrobat or Reader (classic or DC variant) installed with a version matching the specified affected ranges and the printing functionality is accessible.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpdate Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched versions as specified in Adobe security bulletin APSB17-24. Prioritize patching systems that handle untrusted PDF documents or perform printing operations.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-16391 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-16391 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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