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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2021-35984

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-08-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 21.005.20054 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable Zero-click

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 a Null pointer dereference vulnerability. An authenticated attacker could leverage this vulnerability achieve an application denial-of-service in the context of the current user. Exploitation of this issue does not 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 · moderate confidence

A null pointer dereference vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC versions 2021.005.20054 and earlier, 2020.004.30005 and earlier, and 2017.011.30197 and earlier allows an authenticated attacker to cause an application denial-of-service without user interaction.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to a version later than the affected releases (2021.005.20054, 2020.004.30005, or 2017.011.30197 depending on the track).

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 Adobe Acrobat Reader DC version on Windows
    Open Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\DC\Version, or run 'powershell (Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\DC\Version').Version'
    Affected if Version number falls between 15.008.20082 and 21.005.20054 inclusive, OR between 17.011.30059 and 17.011.30197 inclusive, OR between 20.001.30005 and 20.004.30005 inclusive
  2. Identify Adobe Acrobat Reader DC version on macOS
    Open Finder, go to Applications, right-click Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, select Get Info, and check the Version field under General
    Affected if Version number falls between 15.008.20082 and 21.005.20054 inclusive, OR between 17.011.30059 and 17.011.30197 inclusive, OR between 20.001.30005 and 20.004.30005 inclusive
  3. Verify version using command line
    On Windows, run 'AcroRd32.exe /version' or check the executable properties. On macOS, run 'defaults read /Applications/Adobe\ Acrobat\ Reader\ DC.app/Contents/Info CFBundleVersion' in Terminal
    Affected if Version number falls between 15.008.20082 and 21.005.20054 inclusive, OR between 17.011.30059 and 17.011.30197 inclusive, OR between 20.001.30005 and 20.004.30005 inclusive

The environment is affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is installed with a version number within any of the three vulnerable ranges: 15.008.20082-21.005.20054, 17.011.30059-17.011.30197, or 20.001.30005-20.004.30005.

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 the affected releases (2021.005.20054, 2020.004.30005, or 2017.011.30197 depending on the track).

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Adobe Acrobat/Reader DC versions 2021.006.20034+ (Continuous track), 2021.001.10535+ (Classic 2021 track), 2020.005.30034+ (Classic 2020 track), or 2017.011.30198+ (Classic 2017 track) - or migrate to latest available release

  1. 1. Verify current Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC version by opening the application and navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader DC
  2. 2. Close all Adobe applications
  3. 3. Download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC from the official Adobe website (get.adobe.com/reader for Reader or get.adobe.com/acrobat for Pro)
  4. 4. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the installation
  5. 5. Restart the system after installation completes
  6. 6. Confirm the new version is installed by checking Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader DC
Caveat Standard upgrade considerations apply: ensure compatibility with existing workflows and verify third-party plug-ins support the new version

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

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

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-2021-35984 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