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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2021-35981

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

A use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC allows an unauthenticated attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution through a specially crafted PDF file. The vulnerability exploits memory corruption when the victim opens a malicious file, enabling the attacker to execute code in the context of the current user's session.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to a version later than 2021.005.20054 (for 2021 track), 2020.004.30005 (for 2020 track), or 2017.011.30197 (for 2017 track), or apply the relevant vendor security patches.

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 Windows, look in Program Files or Program Files (x86) for Adobe folders, or check the Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe. On macOS, check /Applications for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader.
    Affected if The software is present on the system.
  2. Determine installed version on Windows
    Right-click the AcroRd32.exe or AcroPDF.dll file in the installation directory (typically under C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\), select Properties, and view the File Version on the Details tab. Alternatively, run: wmic datafile where "name='C:\\Program Files\\Adobe\\Acrobat DC\\AcroRd32.exe'" get Version
    Affected if A version number is retrieved.
  3. Determine installed version on macOS
    Right-click the Adobe Acrobat Reader.app or Adobe Acrobat.app in Applications, select Get Info, and view the Version number. Alternatively, run: defaults read "/Applications/Adobe Acrobat Reader DC.app/Contents/Info" CFBundleVersion
    Affected if A version number is retrieved.
  4. Compare version against affected ranges
    Match your installed version number to the following affected ranges: 15.008.20082 through 21.005.20054 (2021 track), 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30197 (2017 track), or 20.001.30005 through 20.004.30005 (2020 track).
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of these three ranges.

A user is affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader DC or Adobe Acrobat DC is installed with a version matching 15.008.20082-21.005.20054, 17.011.30059-17.011.30197, or 20.001.30005-20.004.30005, as the vulnerability triggers upon opening a malicious PDF file.

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 (for 2021 track), 2020.004.30005 (for 2020 track), or 2017.011.30197 (for 2017 track), or apply the relevant vendor security patches.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to latest available Adobe Acrobat DC/Reader version (versions greater than 21.005.20054, 20.004.30005, or 17.011.30197 depending on your release track)

  1. 1. Open Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
  2. 2. Navigate to Help > Check for Updates or use the built-in update mechanism
  3. 3. Download and install the latest available version from the official Adobe website at https://get.adobe.com/reader/ (for Reader) or https://get.adobe.com/acrobat/ (for Acrobat)
  4. 4. Alternatively, navigate to Help > About Adobe Acrobat DC to verify the installed version
  5. 5. Ensure the version number is higher than the last vulnerable release for your release track (21.005.20054, 20.004.30005, or 17.011.30197)
Caveat Standard Adobe update - minimal risk; ensure user closes Acrobat applications before updating

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-2021-35981 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