CVE-2021-21037
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 · uneditedAcrobat Reader DC versions versions 2020.013.20074 (and earlier), 2020.001.30018 (and earlier) and 2017.011.30188 (and earlier) are affected by a Path Traversal vulnerability. An unauthenticated attacker could leverage this vulnerability to achieve arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.
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 confidenceAdobe Acrobat Reader DC contains a path traversal vulnerability that allows an unauthenticated attacker to write or read files outside the intended directory scope. By tricking a user into opening a specially crafted malicious PDF file, an attacker can achieve arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the current user.
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>= 17.0, <= 17.011.30188>= 20.0, <= 20.001.30018<= 20.013.20074>= 17.0, <= 17.011.30188>= 20.0, <= 20.001.300183<= 20.013.20074CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed Adobe Acrobat Reader DC versionOpen Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. The version number will display in the dialog that opens. Alternatively, on Windows check Add/Remove Programs or the program files version info.Affected if The displayed version falls within these ranges: 17.0 through 17.011.30188, 20.0 through 20.001.30018, 20.001.300183, or 20.013.20074 or earlier.
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Confirm product type is affectedVerify whether the installed product is Adobe Acrobat Reader DC or Adobe Acrobat DC (not a different Adobe product). This vulnerability affects only these specific product lines.Affected if The product is Adobe Acrobat Reader DC or Adobe Acrobat DC and the version matches the affected ranges.
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Check for recent PDF handling activityReview recent PDF files opened on the system. The vulnerability is triggered when a user opens a specially crafted malicious PDF file.Affected if Any untrusted PDF files from unknown or untrusted sources were opened recently on the system.
If Adobe Acrobat Reader DC or Adobe Acrobat DC is installed and the version falls within the affected ranges (17.x up to 17.011.30188, 20.x up to 20.001.300183, or 20.x up to 20.013.20074), the environment is vulnerable to path traversal and potential code execution when users open malicious PDF files.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to a version later than 2020.013.20074, 2020.001.30018, or 2017.011.30188. Users should be instructed not to open untrusted PDF files from unknown sources.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-21037 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-21037 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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