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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 31 Oct 2023.
Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-21608

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 →
97/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS 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 Use After Free 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

Adobe Acrobat Reader contains a Use After Free vulnerability where memory is accessed after it has been freed, allowing an attacker to corrupt memory and achieve arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability is triggered when a victim opens a specially crafted malicious PDF file.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest version as provided by Adobe's official security updates. Users should avoid opening untrusted 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, <= 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. Verify Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    Check Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe or HKCU\SOFTWARE\Adobe for Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader entries, or look for acrobat.exe (Acrobat) or AcroRd32.exe (Reader) in Program Files directories
    Affected if If Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader is present on the system
  2. Determine installed version number
    Open the application, go to Help menu and select About Adobe Acrobat/Reader to display the version, or query the Windows Registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat\Version for the installed version value
    Affected if A version number is returned that needs comparison to affected ranges
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    Match your installed version to these vulnerable ranges: Acrobat DC/Reader DC versions 15.008.20082 through 22.003.20282 (inclusive), Acrobat/Reader Classic versions 20.001.30005 through 20.005.30418 (inclusive)
    Affected if Your installed version falls within or overlaps any of these vulnerable ranges

You are affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed and its version number is between 15.008.20082 and 22.003.20282 for DC/Reader DC versions, or between 20.001.30005 and 20.005.30418 for Classic versions.

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 as provided by Adobe's official security updates. Users should avoid opening untrusted PDF files until the update is applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

Acrobat DC/Reader DC: upgrade to version 22.003.20283 or later; Acrobat/Reader 2020: upgrade to version 20.005.30434 or later

  1. 1. Verify current Adobe Acrobat/Acrobat Reader version by opening the application and navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat).
  2. 2. For Acrobat DC/Acrobat Reader DC: Navigate to Adobe's official security bulletin at helpx.adobe.com/security.html or search for APSB23-01 (the security bulletin for this CVE).
  3. 3. Download the fixed version from the official Adobe download page at get.adobe.com/reader or get.adobe.com/acrobat.
  4. 4. Ensure you download version 22.003.20283 or later for DC products, and version 20.005.30434 or later for 2020 products.
  5. 5. Close all Adobe applications before running the installer.
  6. 6. Run the installer with administrator privileges and follow the on-screen prompts.
  7. 7. After installation, verify the version matches the fixed release (Help > About).
  8. 8. Restart the system to ensure all components are properly updated.
Caveat Standard minor version upgrade - no significant breaking changes expected; ensure compatibility with existing PDF workflows

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

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.

Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2023-21608 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