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AcrobatApplication · Adobe

CVE-2021-21045

HIGH · 8.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-02-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 20.013.20074 or later.
See remediation →
82/100
Remediation priority · High

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
Acrobat Reader DC versions versions 2020.013.20074 (and earlier), 2020.001.30018 (and earlier) and 2017.011.30188 (and earlier) are affected by an improper access control vulnerability. An unauthenticated attacker could leverage this vulnerability to elevate privileges in the context of the current user.

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

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC versions 2020.013.20074 and earlier, 2020.001.30018 and earlier, and 2017.011.30188 and earlier contain an improper access control vulnerability that allows an unauthenticated attacker to elevate privileges in the context of the current user.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to a version newer than the affected releases. Organizations should deploy the latest version through their patch management infrastructure and verify successful installation across affected endpoints.

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
AcrobatApplication
Affected:>= 17.0, <= 17.011.30188>= 20.0, <= 20.001.30018
Acrobat DcApplication
Affected:<= 20.013.20074
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:>= 17.0, <= 17.011.30188>= 20.0, <= 20.001.300183
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:<= 20.013.20074

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
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/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 and navigate to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat). Alternatively, check Add/Remove Programs or the application's properties in the installation directory.
    Affected if Any version of Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is installed, regardless of version number, requires further version checking.
  2. Determine exact version number
    Locate the full version number displayed in the About dialog. Record all digits (for example: 2020.013.20074, 2020.001.30018, 2017.011.30188).
    Affected if The version is in the affected range if it matches or falls between: 17.0 through 17.011.30188; 20.0 through 20.001.30018; or any version up to and including 20.013.20074 for DC variants.
  3. Compare against affected version ranges
    Match your installed version to the affected ranges provided: Acrobat (17.x, 20.x), Acrobat DC (up to 20.013.20074), Reader (17.x, 20.x), Reader DC (up to 20.013.20074). Use a version comparison tool if needed.
    Affected if Your version is vulnerable if it falls within or below these thresholds: 17.0 to 17.011.30188, 20.0 to 20.001.30018 (or 20.001.300183 for Reader), or 20.013.20074 or lower for DC editions.
  4. Verify product edition type
    Determine if you have the Continuous track (DC) or the Classic track version. The DC designation indicates Continuous track releases, while non-DC numbers indicate Classic track versions.
    Affected if Both Continuous (DC) and Classic track versions are affected within their respective version ranges.

You are affected if Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader DC is installed and the installed version falls within or below the vulnerable version ranges: 17.0 to 17.011.30188, 20.0 to 20.001.30018, or 20.013.20074 for DC editions.

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 20.013.20074
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to a version newer than the affected releases. Organizations should deploy the latest version through their patch management infrastructure and verify successful installation across affected endpoints.

Fix this in Acrobat Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,620
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,592.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2021-21045 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