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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-21612

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 Creation of Temporary File in Directory with Incorrect Permissions vulnerability that could result in privilege escalation 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 creates temporary files with overly permissive permissions, allowing a local attacker to potentially hijack those files or directories. By tricking a user into opening a malicious PDF, an attacker could manipulate the insecure temp file creation to escalate privileges to the user's level.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest patched version beyond 22.003.20282, 22.003.20281, and 20.005.30418 as applicable to the deployment.

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 Acrobat or Reader product
    Open Adobe Acrobat Reader or Acrobat, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or Acrobat) to display the version number. Alternatively, check Programs and Features in Control Panel for installed Adobe products.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat DC, Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, Adobe Acrobat, or Adobe Acrobat Reader is found on the system.
  2. Determine the exact version number
    Note the full version number displayed in the About dialog (for example, 22.003.20282). Record the complete version string including the three-part build number.
    Affected if Version cannot be determined or is older than the listed affected versions.
  3. Compare against affected version ranges for DC products
    For Adobe Acrobat DC or Acrobat Reader DC, check if version falls within 15.008.20082 to 22.003.20282 (inclusive) OR 15.008.20082 to 22.003.20281 (inclusive).
    Affected if Installed version is 22.003.20282 or earlier for DC products, or version starts with 15.x/20.x through the ranges listed.
  4. Compare against affected version ranges for legacy Acrobat products
    For Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader (non-DC), check if version falls within 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30418 (inclusive).
    Affected if Installed version is 20.005.30418 or earlier for non-DC Acrobat products.

The system is affected if Adobe Acrobat DC, Acrobat Reader DC, Adobe Acrobat, or Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed with a version matching the ranges 15.008.20082 to 22.003.20282, 15.008.20082 to 22.003.20281, or 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30418.

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 patched version beyond 22.003.20282, 22.003.20281, and 20.005.30418 as applicable to the deployment.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Acrobat DC (Continuous) 23.001.20093 or later; Acrobat 2020 (Classic) 20.005.30434 or later

  1. Identify the installed Adobe product(s) and their versions (Acrobat DC, Acrobat Reader DC, Acrobat 2020, or Acrobat Reader 2020).
  2. Download the latest installer from the official Adobe website (e.g., https://get.adobe.com/acrobat) for the appropriate product and track.
  3. For Acrobat DC (Continuous) and Acrobat Reader DC (Continuous), upgrade to version 23.001.20093 or later.
  4. For Acrobat 2020 (Classic) and Acrobat Reader 2020 (Classic), upgrade to version 20.005.30434 or later.
  5. Run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the upgrade.
  6. Restart the application and verify the version has been updated to the target release.
Caveat No known breaking changes; standard upgrade

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
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

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-2023-21612 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