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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2021-28564

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-09-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 21.001.20150 or later.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
Acrobat Reader DC versions versions 2021.001.20150 (and earlier), 2020.001.30020 (and earlier) and 2017.011.30194 (and earlier) are affected by an Out-of-bounds Write vulnerability within the ImageTool component. 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 confidence

Out-of-bounds Write vulnerability in the ImageTool component of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC affecting versions 2021.001.20150 and earlier, 2020.001.30020 and earlier, and 2017.011.30194 and earlier. An unauthenticated attacker can achieve arbitrary code execution by tricking a victim into opening a malicious file.

MitigationUpdate to the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. Additionally, enforce user awareness to avoid opening untrusted files, as exploitation requires user interaction.

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:>= 15.008.20082, <= 21.001.20150
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.008.20082, <= 21.001.20150
AcrobatApplication
Affected:>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30194>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.001.30020
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30194>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.001.30020

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 the installed Adobe product
    Check Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or Reader) in the application menu, or look at the executable properties of AcroRd32.exe or AcroExch.exe
    Affected if The product is Adobe Acrobat DC, Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, Adobe Acrobat, or Adobe Acrobat Reader
  2. Determine the exact version number
    Note the full version string shown (for example 2021.001.20150, 2020.001.30020, or 2017.011.30194)
    Affected if Version matches one of the affected ranges: 2021.001.20150 or earlier, 2020.001.30020 or earlier, or 2017.011.30194 or earlier
  3. Confirm the product family and channel
    Distinguish between standard Acrobat/Reader (17.x) versus Acrobat DC/Reader DC (15.x through 21.x) using the version number prefix
    Affected if Product is Acrobat DC or Reader DC with version 15.008.20082 through 21.001.20150, OR Acrobat/Reader 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30194, OR Acrobat/Reader 20.001.30005 through 20.001.30020
  4. Verify the ImageTool component is present
    The vulnerability exists in the ImageTool component; this is included by default in standard installations of the affected versions
    Affected if The vulnerable version is installed and the ImageTool feature is available (default in standard installations)

You are affected if you have any Adobe Acrobat DC, Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, Adobe Acrobat, or Adobe Acrobat Reader version 15.008.20082 through 21.001.20150, or versions 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30194, or versions 20.001.30005 through 20.001.30020.

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 21.001.20150
Interim mitigation

Update to the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. Additionally, enforce user awareness to avoid opening untrusted files, as exploitation requires user interaction.

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.

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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-2021-28564 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