CVE-2017-3012
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 Acrobat Reader versions 11.0.19 and earlier, 15.006.30280 and earlier, 15.023.20070 and earlier have an insecure library loading (DLL hijacking) vulnerability in the OCR plugin.
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 Reader contains an insecure library loading (DLL hijacking) vulnerability in its OCR (Optical Character Recognition) plugin. The application loads dynamic link libraries from locations that can be controlled by an attacker, potentially allowing execution of arbitrary code via a specially crafted DLL placed in the same directory as a malicious PDF file.
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<= 11.0.19<= 15.006.30280<= 15.023.20070<= 15.006.30280<= 15.023.20070<= 11.0.19CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/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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Check Adobe product versionOpen Adobe Reader or Acrobat, then go to Help > About to view the exact version number. Alternatively, check the registry key at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\InstallPath or the application executable properties.Affected if The installed version is 11.0.19 or earlier for Adobe Reader/Acrobat 11.x; 15.006.30280 or earlier for Adobe Acrobat Dc/Acrobat Reader Dc (Classic); or 15.023.20070 or earlier for Adobe Acrobat Dc/Acrobat Reader Dc (Continuous).
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Identify the product variantConfirm whether the installed product is Adobe Reader, Adobe Acrobat Standard, Adobe Acrobat Pro, or Adobe Acrobat Dc (Classic vs Continuous tracks have different version numbers).Affected if The product is Adobe Reader <= 11.0.19, Adobe Acrobat <= 11.0.19, or Adobe Acrobat Dc/Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc in either the 15.006.30280 or 15.023.20070 version families.
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Verify OCR module presenceCheck if the OCR (Optical Character Recognition) plugin is installed. In Adobe Reader/Acrobat, go to Edit > Preferences > Forms and look for the 'Enable Adobe Acrobat OCR' or 'Enhance Scanned Photos' feature. Alternatively, search for OCR-related DLLs in the program directory such as OCR*.dll or AcroFormOCR*.dll.Affected if The OCR functionality is present and enabled in the installation.
The environment is affected if Adobe Reader or Acrobat version falls within any of the vulnerable version ranges (11.0.19 or earlier for v11.x; 15.006.30280 or earlier for v15 Classic; 15.023.20070 or earlier for v15 Continuous) AND the OCR plugin module is installed.
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 vendor patch by updating Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version later than 11.0.19, 15.006.30280, or 15.023.20070 as applicable. Users should avoid opening untrusted PDF files from writable directories as a temporary workaround.
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- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-3012 — 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-2017-3012 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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