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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2021-28641

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-08-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 21.005.20054 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
Acrobat Reader DC versions 2021.005.20054 (and earlier), 2020.004.30005 (and earlier) and 2017.011.30197 (and earlier) are affected by an Use-after-free 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 confidence

Use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC that allows an unauthenticated attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution via a maliciously crafted PDF file. The vulnerability requires user interaction (opening the malicious file) and executes in the context of the current user.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to a version later than 2021.005.20054, 2020.004.30005, or 2017.011.30197 (depending on the release track). Additionally, restrict or educate users about opening untrusted PDF files.

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, <= 21.005.20054>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30197>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.004.30005
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.008.20082, <= 21.005.20054>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30197>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.004.30005

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. Verify Adobe Acrobat installation
    Check if Adobe Acrobat Reader DC or Adobe Acrobat DC is installed on the system by reviewing installed programs in the Control Panel or using command 'wmic product get name'
    Affected if Neither Adobe Acrobat Reader DC nor Adobe Acrobat DC is installed, then not affected
  2. Determine installed version
    Locate the version of the installed Adobe product. On Windows, right-click the executable in Program Files and select Properties, or check the registry key under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat DC\InstallProperties
    Affected if Unable to determine the version, manual verification required
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    Compare your installed version number to these vulnerable ranges: 15.008.20082 through 21.005.20054, 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30197, and 20.001.30005 through 20.004.30005
    Affected if Installed version falls within any of these ranges, indicating potential vulnerability
  4. Confirm product type and build
    Verify whether the installed product is Adobe Acrobat DC (paid) or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (free), as both share the same version ranges and are affected
    Affected if Either product type is present within the version ranges, the environment is potentially affected

If Adobe Acrobat Reader DC or Adobe Acrobat DC is installed and its version falls within 15.008.20082-21.005.20054, 17.011.30059-17.011.30197, or 20.001.30005-20.004.30005, the environment is affected by this CVE.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 21.005.20054
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to a version later than 2021.005.20054, 2020.004.30005, or 2017.011.30197 (depending on the release track). Additionally, restrict or educate users about opening untrusted PDF files.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat/Reader DC 2021.006.20060 (or later for 2021 track), 2020.004.30012 (or later for 2020 track), 2017.011.30204 (or later for 2017 track)

  1. 1. Verify the current Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader version by opening the application, clicking 'Help', and selecting 'About Adobe Acrobat/Reader DC'
  2. 2. For versions 2021.x (21.x): Upgrade to version 2021.006.20060 or later
  3. 3. For versions 2020.x (20.x): Upgrade to version 2020.004.30012 or later
  4. 4. For versions 2017.x (17.x): Upgrade to version 2017.011.30204 or later
  5. 5. Download the appropriate fixed version from the official Adobe download page at get.adobe.com/reader or get.adobe.com/acrobat
  6. 6. Close all instances of Adobe Acrobat/Reader before running the installer
  7. 7. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the upgrade
  8. 8. After installation, verify the version by checking 'About Adobe Acrobat/Reader DC' to confirm the patched version is installed
Caveat Upgrading may require accepting new license terms; some legacy features or third-party plug-ins may need reconfiguration after major version updates

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2021-28641 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