dbcve.org
Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2021-45062

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 use-after-free vulnerability in the processing of Format event actions that could result 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

A use-after-free vulnerability exists in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC when processing Format event actions within PDF files. The application frees memory but continues to reference the freed pointer, allowing an attacker to manipulate memory and achieve arbitrary code execution through a specially crafted PDF opened by the victim.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to a version newer than 21.007.20099, 20.004.30017, or 17.011.30204. Avoid opening untrusted or unexpected PDF files until the update is applied.

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 installed Adobe Acrobat or Reader version
    Open Adobe Acrobat/Reader, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader, or run: on Windows check 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\Version' or 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\Reader\DC\Version' in Registry Editor
    Affected if Version number falls within 15.008.20082 to 21.007.20099, or 17.011.30059 to 17.011.30204, or 20.001.30005 to 20.004.30017
  2. Confirm product type is vulnerable
    Verify the installed product is Adobe Acrobat DC, Acrobat Reader DC, Adobe Acrobat, or Adobe Acrobat Reader as listed in the affected products
    Affected if Product is one of the four listed vulnerable product names
  3. Identify Format event action trigger
    A PDF file would need to contain a Format event action that triggers the vulnerable code path. This is a file-specific trigger, not a system-wide configuration.
    Affected if A specially crafted PDF with malicious Format event action is opened by the victim

User is affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader version is within the listed vulnerable ranges and opens a specially crafted PDF with Format event actions.

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 a version newer than 21.007.20099, 20.004.30017, or 17.011.30204. Avoid opening untrusted or unexpected PDF files until the update is applied.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Adobe Acrobat DC/Reader DC latest version (21.x or later stable release)

  1. 1. Verify the current Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader version by navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (or About Adobe Acrobat DC)
  2. 2. Close all Adobe applications
  3. 3. Download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat DC or Acrobat Reader DC from the official Adobe website (adobe.com)
  4. 4. Run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the upgrade
  5. 5. After installation, restart the computer
  6. 6. Verify the new version by checking Help > About to confirm the version is newer than the affected releases (21.007.20099, 20.004.30017, or 17.011.30204)
Caveat Standard upgrade - ensure compatibility with existing PDF workflows and plugins; enterprise deployments may need to test before rolling out

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
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,090
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,744.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-45062 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2021-45062 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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