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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2019-16461

HIGH · 7.5 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 →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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 read vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to information disclosure .

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

Adobe Acrobat and Reader contain an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that allows attackers to read memory contents beyond allocated buffers, potentially exposing sensitive information. The vulnerability affects multiple version lines including 2019, 2017, and 2015 releases up to the specified patch levels.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest versions that contain the security fix. For enterprise deployments, test the update in a controlled environment before broad rollout to ensure compatibility with existing document workflows.

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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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. Verify Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    Check installed programs on Windows via Control Panel > Programs and Features, or use 'Get-ItemProperty' PowerShell command for registry entries under HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC appears in the installed programs list
  2. Determine the exact installed version
    Open Adobe Acrobat or Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or Reader). Alternatively, check the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat\DC\Version or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat\Reader\DC\Version for the version string
    Affected if Version number is visible in the About dialog or registry
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    Compare your installed version to these affected ranges: Acrobat/Reader DC 15.006.30060 through 15.006.30507, 15.008.20082 through 19.021.20057, and 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30155. Versions at or above the minimum and below the maximum in any range are vulnerable
    Affected if Installed version falls within any of these ranges: >= 15.006.30060 and < 15.006.30508; >= 15.008.20082 and < 19.021.20058; >= 17.011.30059 and < 17.011.30156
  4. Confirm the application is in use for handling PDFs
    Check if the installed Adobe product is configured as the default PDF handler or regularly used to open PDF documents, as the vulnerability is triggered when processing malicious PDF files
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is set as the default PDF viewer or used routinely to open PDF documents in the environment

A user is affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is installed with a version number that 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.

From vendor data
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 versions that contain the security fix. For enterprise deployments, test the update in a controlled environment before broad rollout to ensure compatibility with existing document workflows.

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2019-16461 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