CVE-2017-16409
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 vulnerability occurs as a result of a computation that reads data that is past the end of the target buffer; the computation is part of the Adobe graphics module responsible for displaying textual data. The use of an invalid (out-of-range) pointer offset during access of internal data structure fields causes the vulnerability. A successful attack can lead to 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 confidenceThis is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader's graphics module responsible for displaying textual data. The vulnerability occurs when an invalid (out-of-range) pointer offset is used during access of internal data structure fields, causing the application to read data past the end of the target buffer. Successful exploitation can lead to sensitive memory data exposure.
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 installed Adobe productOpen Adobe Acrobat or Reader, then navigate to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or Reader) to display the exact version number. Alternatively, on Windows check Add/Remove Programs or the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall for Adobe entries.Affected if Any version of Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
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Confirm the exact version numberRecord the full version string shown in the About dialog (for example, 15.006.30355 or 17.011.30066). Note whether it is Acrobat Standard, Acrobat Pro, or Acrobat Reader, and whether it is the DC (Classic) variant.Affected if The version displayed matches one of the affected ranges: 11.0.22 or earlier; 15.0 through 15.006.30355; 17.0 through 17.011.30066 (or 17.012.20098 for DC variants)
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Verify the product variant and buildDetermine if the installation is Acrobat DC (Classic), Acrobat Reader DC, or the older non-DC version. The DC versions have separate version ranges (15.x and 17.x) from the classic versions (11.x and 17.x).Affected if The product is Acrobat or Reader DC with versions 15.0 to 15.006.30355 or 17.0 to 17.012.20098, or classic versions 11.0.22 and below, or 17.0 to 17.011.30066
The environment is affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed and the exact version falls within any of the vulnerable ranges listed (11.0.22 and below, 15.x up to 15.006.30355, or 17.x up to 17.011.30066/17.012.20098 depending on variant).
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 beyond 2017.012.20098, 2017.011.30066, 2015.006.30355, and 11.0.22. Apply the vendor's security updates to remediate this vulnerability.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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-2017-16409 — 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-2017-16409 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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