CVE-2017-3042
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 exploitable heap overflow vulnerability in image conversion, related to parsing offsets in TIFF files. 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 · high confidenceHeap overflow vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader's image conversion module when parsing TIFF files, specifically in the handling of offsets within TIFF metadata. The vulnerability allows attackers to overflow the heap via specially crafted TIFF files, potentially achieving 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<= 11.0.19<= 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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Identify installed Adobe product and exact versionOpen Adobe Acrobat Reader or Acrobat, go to Help > About Adobe [Product]. Alternatively, on Windows check Add/Remove Programs or the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe for the version entry.Affected if The installed version is 11.0.19 or lower, or 15.006.30280 or lower, or 15.023.20070 or lower (any of the affected version ranges).
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Confirm the specific product variantDetermine whether the installed product is Adobe Reader, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Acrobat DC, or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. Check the application title bar or Help > About dialog for the exact product name.Affected if The product is any of the affected variants: Adobe Reader (<=11.0.19), Adobe Acrobat (<=11.0.19), Adobe Acrobat DC (<=15.006.30280 or <=15.023.20070), or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (<=15.006.30280 or <=15.023.20070).
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Verify TIFF file handling capability existsCheck if the image conversion module and TIFF handling are available. In Adobe Reader/Acrobat, attempt to open a TIFF file or check the preferences under Edit > Preferences > Security (Enhanced) or review installed plug-ins for TIFF support.Affected if TIFF file handling is enabled or available in the application and the version falls within the affected ranges.
A user is affected if they have Adobe Reader, Acrobat, or their DC variants installed at versions 11.0.19 or lower, 15.006.30280 or lower, or 15.023.20070 or lower, and the application can process TIFF files.
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 Reader to a version newer than 11.0.19, 15.006.30280, or 15.023.20070. Until patched, restrict or disable handling of untrusted TIFF files within the application.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-3042 — 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-2017-3042 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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