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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2019-16450

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-12-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 15.006.30508 / 17.011.30156 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Adobe Acrobat and Reader versions , 2019.021.20056 and earlier, 2017.011.30152 and earlier, 2017.011.30155 and earlier version, 2017.011.30152 and earlier, and 2015.006.30505 and earlier have an out-of-bounds write 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 · high confidence

An out-of-bounds write vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader allows attackers to write data beyond allocated memory buffers, potentially enabling arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability stems from improper bounds checking when processing certain PDF operations.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat and Reader to patched versions (2019.021.20057 or later for 2019 track, 2017.011.30156 or later for 2017 track, 2015.006.30510 or later for 2015 track) to address the out-of-bounds write condition.

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
Acrobat DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.006.30060, < 15.006.30508>= 15.008.20082, < 19.021.20058>= 17.011.30059, < 17.011.30156
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.006.30060, < 15.006.30508>= 15.008.20082, < 19.021.20058>= 17.011.30059, < 17.011.30156

CVSS 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:3.1/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    Check the system for Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC installation. On Windows, look in Program Files or Program Files (x86). On Mac, check the Applications folder.
    Affected if Either Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is installed on the system
  2. Locate the installed version number
    Open Adobe Acrobat or Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or About Adobe Reader) to display the version number. On Windows, you can also check the registry key under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe or the file properties of the executable.
    Affected if The version displayed is one of the following branches: 15.006.x through 15.006.30507, 15.008.x through 19.021.20057, or 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30155
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    Note the full version number (for example: 15.008.20082) and compare it to the affected version ranges. The vulnerability affects versions >= 15.006.30060 but < 15.006.30508, versions >= 15.008.20082 but < 19.021.20058, and versions >= 17.011.30059 but < 17.011.30156.
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of the three affected ranges and has not been patched to the fixed versions (2019.021.20057 or later for 2019 track, 2017.011.30156 or later for 2017 track, 2015.006.30510 or later for 2015 track)

A user is affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Reader DC is installed and the version number falls within any of the three vulnerable ranges (15.006.30060 to 15.006.30507, 15.008.20082 to 19.021.20057, or 17.011.30059 to 17.011.30155).

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 15.006.30508 / 17.011.30156 / 19.021.20058 or later
Fixed in 15.006.3050817.011.3015619.021.20058
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat and Reader to patched versions (2019.021.20057 or later for 2019 track, 2017.011.30156 or later for 2017 track, 2015.006.30510 or later for 2015 track) to address the out-of-bounds write condition.

Recommended fix High confidence

Acrobat/Reader 2015: upgrade to 15.006.30508 | Acrobat/Reader 2017: upgrade to 17.011.30156 | Acrobat/Reader 2019: upgrade to 19.021.20058

  1. 1. Open Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader and navigate to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or About Adobe Reader) to identify the current version number.
  2. 2. Note the current version (e.g., 15.006.304xx, 17.011.300xx, or 19.021.200xx) to determine which update path applies.
  3. 3. Visit the official Adobe support page at https://helpx.adobe.com/ to download the appropriate security update for your product line.
  4. 4. Download the fixed version corresponding to your release: 15.006.30508 for Acrobat/Reader 2015, 17.011.30156 for Acrobat/Reader 2017, or 19.021.20058 for Acrobat/Reader 2019.
  5. 5. Close all instances of Adobe Acrobat or Reader before running the installer.
  6. 6. Run the installer and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the update.
  7. 7. After installation, verify the version by checking Help > About to confirm the security patch is applied.
Caveat Standard security update with no expected breaking changes; minor version increment within same release track

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-16450 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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