CVE-2017-16399
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. This issue is due to an untrusted pointer dereference in the XPS parsing module. 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 confidenceAdobe Acrobat and Reader contain an untrusted pointer dereference vulnerability in the XPS parsing module. By crafting malicious XPS input, an attacker can cause the application to read from memory addresses outside the process address space, potentially exposing sensitive data.
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.
-
Identify installed Adobe product and versionOn Windows, check the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat Reader for the Version key. Alternatively, open Acrobat/Reader and go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or Reader).Affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed (any version)
-
Compare version against affected rangesMatch your installed version number to the affected ranges: Acrobat 11.x versions up to and including 11.0.22; Acrobat 17.x versions from 17.0 through 17.011.30066; Acrobat DC versions 15.x from 15.0 through 15.006.30355 or 17.x up to 17.012.20098. Apply the same version matching for Reader variants.Affected if Installed version falls within any of these ranges: <= 11.0.22, >= 17.0 through <= 17.011.30066, >= 15.0 through <= 15.006.30355, or <= 17.012.20098 (depending on product type)
-
Confirm XPS parsing capability is presentThe XPS parsing module is built into Acrobat and Reader by default. No additional plugins or features need to be enabled. Verify the application can open XPS files by attempting to open a sample XPS document or checking file type associations.Affected if A vulnerable version is installed, the XPS parsing functionality is inherently present in the application
A user is affected if they have Adobe Acrobat or Reader installed with a version number matching any of the listed vulnerable version ranges, as the exploitable XPS parsing module is included by default.
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 dataApply the appropriate Adobe security patch for the installed version of Acrobat or Reader. Prioritize systems that process untrusted XPS documents.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $10,240.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-16399 — 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-2017-16399 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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