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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2021-44709

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-01-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 21.007.20099 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 version 21.007.20099 (and earlier), 20.004.30017 (and earlier) and 17.011.30204 (and earlier) are affected by a heap overflow vulnerability due to insecure handling of a crafted file, potentially resulting in 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

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC contains a heap overflow vulnerability in the handling of crafted PDF files. The vulnerability allows attackers to overflow the heap memory by providing specially crafted PDF content, potentially achieving arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the current user. Exploitation requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious PDF file.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to version 21.007.20099 or later for DC, 20.004.30017 or later for 2020 track, or 17.011.30204 or later for 2017 track. Alternatively, avoid opening untrusted PDF files from unknown sources.

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, <= 21.007.20099
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.008.20082, <= 21.007.20099
AcrobatApplication
Affected:>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30204>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.004.30017
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30204>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.004.30017

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. Check if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    Check the Windows Registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe for product entries, or look for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader in the program files directory (C:\Program Files\Adobe or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe)
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed on the system
  2. Determine the installed version of Adobe Acrobat or Reader
    Open Adobe Acrobat/Reader, go to Help > About, or run the executable with the /sA command-line switch (e.g., 'C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe' /sA) to display version information. Alternatively, check the version in the registry under the product's InstalledVersion subkey.
    Affected if The version number is within the affected ranges: 15.008.20082 to 21.007.20099 (DC track), 17.011.30059 to 17.011.30204 or 20.001.30005 to 20.004.30017 (Classic tracks)
  3. Confirm the product track and compare against the correct affected range
    Identify whether the product is DC (Continuous), 2020, or 2017 track based on the version number pattern. DC versions start with 21.x, 20.x, or 15.x. Classic 2020 versions start with 20.001.x. Classic 2017 versions start with 17.011.x. Compare your exact version to the specific range for your track.
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of the vulnerable version ranges

A user is affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed with a version matching any of the specified vulnerable ranges (15.008.20082-21.007.20099 for DC, 20.001.30005-20.004.30017 for 2020, or 17.011.30059-17.011.30204 for 2017 tracks).

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 21.007.20099
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to version 21.007.20099 or later for DC, 20.004.30017 or later for 2020 track, or 17.011.30204 or later for 2017 track. Alternatively, avoid opening untrusted PDF files from unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Acrobat Reader DC/Acrobat DC: upgrade to 21.008.20172 or later (2021 track); 20.005.30004 or later (2020 track); 17.012.20093 or later (2017 track)

  1. 1. Verify current Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader version by opening the application, navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (or About Adobe Acrobat DC).
  2. 2. If running version 21.007.20099 or earlier on Acrobat Reader DC or Acrobat DC, download and install version 21.008.20172 or later from the official Adobe website.
  3. 3. If running version 20.004.30017 or earlier on Acrobat Reader DC or Acrobat DC, download and install version 20.005.30004 or later from the official Adobe website.
  4. 4. If running version 17.011.30204 or earlier on Acrobat Reader or Acrobat (2017 track), download and install version 17.012.20093 or later from the official Adobe website.
  5. 5. After installation, verify the updated version by checking Help > About to confirm the patch has been applied.
  6. 6. Ensure users are instructed NOT to open untrusted or unexpected PDF files from unverified sources to mitigate the user-interaction requirement for exploitation.
Caveat Standard Adobe update carries minimal risk; standard regression testing recommended for enterprise deployments

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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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-2021-44709 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