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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2019-8249

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-07-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 19.012.20035 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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 a type confusion 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

A type confusion vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader allows attackers to trigger arbitrary code execution through specially crafted PDF files. The flaw exists in the processing of certain objects within PDF documents where type checking is insufficient, potentially allowing an attacker to manipulate memory references.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat and Reader to versions newer than 2019.012.20035, 2017.011.30143, and 2015.006.30498 respectively. Until patches are applied, disable JavaScript in Acrobat/Reader settings and avoid opening untrusted PDF documents.

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, <= 15.006.30498>= 15.008.20082, <= 19.012.20035>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30143>= 15.006.30060, <= 15.006.30497>= 15.008.20082, <= 19.012.20034>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30142
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.006.30060, <= 15.006.30498>= 15.008.20082, <= 19.012.20035>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30143>= 15.006.30060, <= 15.006.30497>= 15.008.20082, <= 19.012.20034>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30142

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/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 checks

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

  1. Identify installed Adobe product
    Open Adobe Acrobat or Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or Reader) to view the exact version number. Alternatively, check Add/Remove Programs on Windows or the Applications folder on macOS.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is installed
  2. Determine exact version number
    Note the full version displayed (for example, 19.012.20034 or 15.008.20082). The version format is typically major.minor.build.hotfix (such as 19.x.x.x or 15.x.x.x).
    Affected if Version cannot be determined or product is not Adobe Acrobat/Reader DC
  3. Compare against affected version ranges
    Check if the installed version falls within any of these ranges: 15.006.30060-15.006.30498, 15.008.20082-19.012.20035, 17.011.30059-17.011.30143, or the parallel ranges ending in 30497/20034/30142. The CVE affects both the classic 2015, 2017, and 2019 versions within these boundaries.
    Affected if Installed version matches one of the listed vulnerable ranges
  4. Assess exposure to malicious PDFs
    Recognize that exploitation requires opening a specially crafted PDF file. Check whether the system frequently opens PDF files from untrusted sources, receives PDFs via email, or browses websites that serve PDFs.
    Affected if Users routinely open PDF files from unknown or untrusted sources without verification

The environment is affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Reader DC is installed with a version number matching one of the vulnerable ranges (15.006.30060 through 19.012.20035, or 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30143), and users may open untrusted PDF documents.

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 a release after 19.012.20035
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat and Reader to versions newer than 2019.012.20035, 2017.011.30143, and 2015.006.30498 respectively. Until patches are applied, disable JavaScript in Acrobat/Reader settings and avoid opening untrusted PDF documents.

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2019-8249 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