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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2019-8029

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-08-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 15.006.30499 / 17.011.30144 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

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 2019.012.20035 and earlier, 2019.012.20035 and earlier, 2017.011.30142 and earlier, 2017.011.30143 and earlier, 2015.006.30497 and earlier, and 2015.006.30498 and earlier have an use after free 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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-416

Memory is used after it has been freed, so its contents — now potentially attacker-controlled — drive the program's behaviour. With careful heap grooming this becomes code execution. The fix requires disciplined ownership of memory and often a targeted rework of the object lifecycle.

General guidance for the use after free class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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, < 15.006.30499>= 15.008.20082, < 19.012.20036>= 17.011.30059, < 17.011.30144
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.006.30060, < 15.006.30499>= 15.008.20082, < 19.012.20036>= 17.011.30059, < 17.011.30144

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

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 15.006.30499 / 17.011.30144 / 19.012.20036 or later
Fixed in 15.006.3049917.011.3014419.012.20036
Vendor patch helpx.adobe.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

19.012.20036 or later (or the minimum fixed version for your version branch: 15.006.30497+ for 2015.x, 17.011.30144+ for 2017.x, 19.012.20036+ for 2019.x)

  1. 1. Identify the installed Adobe Acrobat or Reader version by opening the application, going to Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader
  2. 2. Determine which version branch your current installation belongs to (2015.x, 2017.x, or 2019.x)
  3. 3. Download the appropriate fixed version from the Adobe security bulletin APSB19-41 at https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/acrobat/apsb19-41.html
  4. 4. Close all Adobe Acrobat/Reader instances and any applications that may be using PDF functionality
  5. 5. Uninstall the current version through Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features or macOS Applications folder
  6. 6. Install the patched version corresponding to your version branch: For 2015.x branch use 15.006.30497 or later; For 2017.x branch use 17.011.30144 or later; For 2019.x branch use 19.012.20036 or later
  7. 7. Restart the computer after installation completes
  8. 8. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds the fixed version by checking Help > About
Caveat Standard upgrade - ensure compatibility with other PDF-dependent software; backing up preferences is recommended

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

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $3,550. Get the upgrade done

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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-2019-8029 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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