CVE-2023-22240
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 · uneditedAdobe Acrobat Reader versions 22.003.20282 (and earlier), 22.003.20281 (and earlier) and 20.005.30418 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds write 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 confidenceThis is an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader that allows writing data beyond allocated memory buffer boundaries. Successful exploitation enables arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the user who opens a malicious PDF file, requiring user interaction (opening a specially crafted file).
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>= 20.001.30005, < 20.005.30436< 22.003.20310>= 20.001.30005, < 20.005.30436< 22.003.20310CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Adobe productOpen Adobe Acrobat Reader or Acrobat, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat). The product name appears in the title bar or about dialog.Affected if Product is Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat (including DC variants)
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Check installed version numberIn the About dialog, note the full version number (for example: 20.001.30005 or 22.003.20310). Alternatively, right-click the executable (AcroRd32.exe or AcroExch.exe) in Program Files, select Properties, and check the File Version.Affected if Version is displayed in the about dialog or file properties
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Compare Reader version to affected rangesIf the product is Adobe Acrobat Reader (non-DC), compare your version against: >= 20.001.30005 and < 20.005.30436. You are affected if your version falls within this range.Affected if Reader non-DC version is between 20.001.30005 and 20.005.30435 inclusive
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Compare Reader DC version to affected rangeIf the product is Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, compare your version against: < 22.003.20310. You are affected if your version number is lower than 22.003.20310.Affected if Reader DC version is below 22.003.20310
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Compare Acrobat DC version to affected rangeIf the product is Adobe Acrobat DC, compare your version against: < 22.003.20310. You are affected if your version number is lower than 22.003.20310.Affected if Acrobat DC version is below 22.003.20310
You are affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader or Acrobat (any variant) is installed and the version falls within any of the specified vulnerable ranges: Reader/Acrobat non-DC between 20.001.30005 and 20.005.30435, or Reader/Acrobat DC below 22.003.20310.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped20.005.3043622.003.20310
Update Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest patched version released by Adobe to address this vulnerability. In enterprise environments, deploy the update through patch management systems and advise users to avoid opening untrusted PDF files until patched.
Adobe Acrobat/Reader 20.005.30436+ (20.x track) or 22.003.20310+ (22.x track)
- 1. Open Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader on the affected system.
- 2. Navigate to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat) to confirm the current version.
- 3. If the version is below 20.005.30436 (for version 20.x releases) or below 22.003.20310 (for version 22.x releases), proceed to update.
- 4. Go to the official Adobe download page: https://get.adobe.com/reader/ (for Reader) or https://get.adobe.com/acrobat/ (for Acrobat).
- 5. Download and install the latest version, or specifically version 20.005.30436+ or 22.003.20310+.
- 6. Restart the application after installation completes.
- 7. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds the fixed versions: Help > About to confirm 20.005.30436 or later, or 22.003.20310 or later.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-22240 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-22240 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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