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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2021-35982

HIGH · 7.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-09-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 21.005.20060 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated

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 2021.005.20060 (and earlier), 2020.004.30006 (and earlier) and 2017.011.30199 (and earlier) are affected by an Uncontrolled Search Path Element vulnerability. A local attacker with non-administrative privileges can plant a malicious DLL to achieve arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user via DLL hijacking. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction.

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

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC contains an Uncontrolled Search Path Element vulnerability allowing DLL hijacking. A local attacker with non-administrative privileges can plant a malicious DLL in a directory searched by the application, causing arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user when the application loads the DLL.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to a patched version beyond 2021.005.20060, 2020.004.30006, or 2017.011.30199 as appropriate. Prior to patching, restrict user write access to directories in the application DLL search path to prevent DLL planting.

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:>= 20.006.20034, <= 21.005.20060>= 20.006.20034, <= 21.005.20058>= 20.004.30005, <= 20.004.30006>= 17.011.30158, <= 17.011.30199
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 20.006.20034, <= 21.005.20060>= 20.004.30005, <= 20.004.30006>= 17.011.30158, <= 17.011.30199

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
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 Reader DC is installed
    Check for the presence of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC in the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\AcroRd32.exe, or look for the installation folder under C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat DC\
    Affected if The product is not installed, then the system is not affected by this specific vulnerability
  2. Identify the installed version number
    Right-click AcroRd32.exe in the installation directory, select Properties, and view the Details tab for the File Version, or run: wmic product where "name like 'Adobe Acrobat Reader DC%'" get version
    Affected if The version cannot be determined, treat as potentially affected and investigate further
  3. Compare version against affected range 21.x
    If the version starts with 21 (e.g., 21.001.x.x), check if it is between 20.006.20034 and 21.005.20060 inclusive. Version 21.006.20062 and later are patched.
    Affected if The installed version falls within 20.006.20034 through 21.005.20060 inclusive
  4. Compare version against affected range 2020 (20.x)
    If the version starts with 20 (e.g., 20.001.x.x), check if it is between 20.004.30005 and 20.004.30006 inclusive. Version 20.004.30007 and later are patched.
    Affected if The installed version falls within 20.004.30005 through 20.004.30006 inclusive
  5. Compare version against affected range 2017 (17.x)
    If the version starts with 17 (e.g., 17.001.x.x), check if it is between 17.011.30158 and 17.011.30199 inclusive. Version 17.011.30200 and later are patched.
    Affected if The installed version falls within 17.011.30158 through 17.011.30199 inclusive

A user is affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is installed and the version matches any of the three vulnerable ranges: 21.005.20060 or earlier for the 21.x track, 20.004.30006 or earlier for the 2020 track, or 17.011.30199 or earlier for the 2017 track.

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 21.005.20060
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to a patched version beyond 2021.005.20060, 2020.004.30006, or 2017.011.30199 as appropriate. Prior to patching, restrict user write access to directories in the application DLL search path to prevent DLL planting.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC or Acrobat DC (versions greater than 2021.005.20060, 2020.004.30006, or 2017.011.30199)

  1. 1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader DC or Acrobat DC
  2. 2. Navigate to Help > Check for Updates (or Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader DC)
  3. 3. Allow the application to check for available updates
  4. 4. If updates are available, review the update details to confirm it includes the CVE-2021-35982 security fix
  5. 5. Download and install the latest available version from Adobe's official update channels
  6. 6. Alternatively, manually download the latest version from https://get.adobe.com/reader/ (for Reader) or https://get.adobe.com/acrobat/ (for Acrobat)
  7. 7. After installation, verify the version number reflects a version newer than the affected releases (2021.005.20060, 2020.004.30006, or 2017.011.30199)
Caveat Adobe updates typically include security fixes with minimal breaking changes; however, ensure compatibility with existing PDF workflows and plugins before deploying enterprise-wide

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
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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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-2021-35982 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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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