CVE-2021-21062
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 Memory corruption vulnerability when parsing a specially crafted PDF file. 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 memory corruption vulnerability when parsing specially crafted PDF files. An unauthenticated attacker can achieve arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user by tricking a victim into opening a malicious PDF file.
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>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30188>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.001.30018>= 15.008.20082, <= 20.013.20074>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30188>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.001.30018>= 15.008.20082, <= 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:3.0/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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Locate Adobe Acrobat or Reader installationCheck for Adobe Acrobat/Reader in the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\Acrobat.exe or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\AcroRd32.exe, or look in Program Files for Adobe folders.Affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed on the system
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Determine installed version on WindowsOpen the installed Adobe application, go to Help > About, or check the version in the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\[version] or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat Reader\DC\InstallPath. The version typically appears as a long number like 20.013.20074.Affected if A version number is found in the affected ranges
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Compare version against affected rangesMatch the installed version number against these vulnerable ranges: 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30188, 20.001.30005 through 20.001.30018, or 15.008.20082 through 20.013.20074. Ensure you compare the full version number including the build identifier.Affected if The installed version falls within any of the listed vulnerable ranges, meaning the application must parse PDF files to trigger the flaw
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Verify product type and trackConfirm whether the installation is Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader, and identify the version track (Classic or Continuous) by checking the registry key path or the product name in Add/Remove Programs.Affected if The product is any of the affected variants (Acrobat, Acrobat DC, Reader, or Reader DC) and version is in range
If Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed and the detected version falls within 17.011.30059-17.011.30188, 20.001.30005-20.001.30018, or 15.008.20082-20.013.20074, the environment is vulnerable when processing untrusted 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 newer than 2020.013.20074, 2020.001.30018, or 2017.011.30188 (depending on the track). Enable Protected View for all files in Acrobat settings as an additional defense-in-depth measure.
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- 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-2021-21062 — 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-2021-21062 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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