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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-21605

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-01-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 22.003.20282 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
Adobe Acrobat Reader versions 22.003.20282 (and earlier), 22.003.20281 (and earlier) and 20.005.30418 (and earlier) are affected by a Heap-based Buffer Overflow vulnerability 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 heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in Adobe Acrobat Reader versions 22.003.20282 and earlier, as well as 20.005.30418 and earlier. When a user opens a specially crafted malicious PDF file, the buffer overflow can be triggered, potentially allowing arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the current user.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest version beyond the affected releases. Until patched, warn users not to open untrusted or unexpected PDF documents 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, <= 22.003.20282>= 15.008.20082, <= 22.003.20281
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.008.20082, <= 22.003.20282>= 15.008.20082, <= 22.003.20281
AcrobatApplication
Affected:>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30418
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30418

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. Identify installed Adobe product
    Check for Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat installation. On Windows, inspect 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe' in the Registry, or look in Program Files for Acrobat/Adobe Acrobat folders. On Mac, check /Applications for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed on the system
  2. Retrieve installed version number
    Open Adobe Acrobat Reader, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat). Alternatively on Windows, query the registry key 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\Version' or similar version subkey depending on product and version line.
    Affected if A version number is returned that can be compared against the affected ranges
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    Match the installed version to these vulnerable ranges: 15.008.20082 through 22.003.20282 (Acrobat/Reader DC), or 20.001.30005 through 20.005.30418 (Acrobat/Reader classic). Any version within these inclusive ranges is affected.
    Affected if The installed version falls within 15.008.20082 to 22.003.20282, or within 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30418

If Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat is installed and its version falls within the specified ranges, the environment is vulnerable when opening untrusted PDF files.

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 22.003.20282
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest version beyond the affected releases. Until patched, warn users not to open untrusted or unexpected PDF documents from unknown sources.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Adobe Acrobat Reader/Acrobat latest version (fixed releases are newer than 22.003.20282, 22.003.20281, and 20.005.30418)

  1. 1. Close all Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader instances that are currently running
  2. 2. Navigate to the official Adobe download page at https://get.adobe.com/reader/ or use the Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application
  3. 3. Download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader (or Adobe Acrobat if applicable)
  4. 4. Run the installer and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation
  5. 5. After installation, verify the installed version by opening Adobe Acrobat Reader and navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader
  6. 6. Confirm the version number is higher than 22.003.20282 and 20.005.30418
Caveat Standard Adobe update - minimal risk; ensure to back up any personalized settings or preferences if needed

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
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,080
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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-2023-21605 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