CVE-2017-2973
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 · uneditedAdobe Digital Editions versions 4.5.3 and earlier have an exploitable heap overflow vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution.
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 confidenceHeap overflow vulnerability in Adobe Digital Editions versions 4.5.3 and earlier allows memory corruption, which can be leveraged for arbitrary code execution through careful heap manipulation.
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<= 4.5.3CVSS 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
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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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Check if Adobe Digital Editions is installedOn Windows, check the installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Digital Editions) or look for the application in Add/Remove Programs. On Mac, check /Applications for Adobe Digital Editions.app.Affected if Adobe Digital Editions is found on the system
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Determine the installed version numberOpen Adobe Digital Editions, then go to Help > About Adobe Digital Editions to display the version. Alternatively, on Windows, right-click the file 'DigitalEditions.exe' in the installation folder, select Properties, and check the File Version field.Affected if The displayed version is 4.5.3 or earlier (such as 4.5.2, 4.5.1, 4.5.0, or any version up to 4.5.3)
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Confirm the exact version against the affected rangeCompare your identified version to the affected range: any version less than 4.5.4 is vulnerable, including all 4.x versions up to and including 4.5.3.Affected if The installed version is 4.5.3, 4.5.2, 4.5.1, 4.5.0, or any earlier 4.x release
If Adobe Digital Editions version 4.5.3 or earlier is installed, the environment is vulnerable to this heap overflow that could allow memory corruption and potential arbitrary code execution.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade Adobe Digital Editions to version 4.5.4 or later to remediate this critical vulnerability; prioritize patching due to the 9.8 CVSS score indicating remote code execution risk.
Adobe Digital Editions 4.5.4 or later (latest available version)
- 1. Close Adobe Digital Editions if it is currently running
- 2. Uninstall the current version of Adobe Digital Editions (versions 4.5.3 and earlier)
- 3. Download the latest version of Adobe Digital Editions from the official Adobe website (www.adobe.com) or trusted download source
- 4. Install the new version of Adobe Digital Editions
- 5. Verify the installed version by checking Help > About Adobe Digital Editions to confirm the version is above 4.5.3
- 6. Re-authorize your device if required and re-download any necessary e-books
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-2973 — 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-2017-2973 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data