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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2019-16454

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 · moderate confidence

An out-of-bounds write vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader allows attackers to write data beyond allocated memory boundaries, potentially achieving arbitrary code execution on affected systems.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched versions provided by Adobe security advisories.

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. Check if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    On Windows, open Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\Version (or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat Reader\DC\Version for Reader). On macOS, check /Applications/Adobe Acrobat DC/ or /Applications/Adobe Acrobat Reader DC/ for the application bundle.
    Affected if The application exists in the system.
  2. Identify the exact installed version number
    In Windows Registry, read the "Version" value from the path above. Alternatively, open Adobe Acrobat/Reader, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or Reader), and note the exact version string displayed (e.g., 19.021.20058).
    Affected if A version number is found.
  3. Compare your version against affected ranges
    Match your installed version against these vulnerable ranges: 15.006.30060 through 15.006.30508; 15.008.20082 through 19.021.20058; 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30156. Note that versions 19.x are only vulnerable if below 19.021.20058.
    Affected if Your installed version falls within any of the ranges listed.
  4. Confirm the product type and build variant
    Determine whether you have Acrobat DC or Acrobat Reader DC, and whether it is the Continuous track (19.x) or the Classic track (15.x or 17.x). The version format indicates the track (15.x/17.x are Classic, 19.x is Continuous).
    Affected if You are running any vulnerable Classic or Continuous track version within the affected ranges.

You are affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Acrobat Reader DC is installed and the version number falls within any of the three vulnerable ranges specified in the CVE.

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 the latest patched versions provided by Adobe security advisories.

Recommended fix High confidence

For Classic track (2015): 15.006.30508 or later | For Classic track (2017): 17.011.30156 or later | For Continuous track: 19.021.20058 or later

  1. Identify the currently installed Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader version via Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader
  2. Download the appropriate patched version from the official Adobe security bulletin (helpx.adobe.com) for the detected release track (2015, 2017, or 2019)
  3. Close all instances of Adobe Acrobat or Reader
  4. Install the update by running the downloaded installer
  5. Restart the application and verify the version matches or exceeds the fixed release for your track
  6. Alternatively, enable automatic updates via Edit > Preferences > Updater to receive future security patches
Caveat Standard patch deployment risk - test in non-production environment before broad rollout; some legacy functionality may be deprecated in newer versions

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

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

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-2019-16454 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