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AcrobatApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-26417

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-04-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 23.001.20093 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 23.001.20093 (and earlier) and 20.005.30441 (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

This is a Use After Free vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader. Use After Free bugs occur when a program continues to use memory after it has been freed, potentially allowing an attacker to manipulate memory and achieve arbitrary code execution. The attack requires the victim to open a specially crafted malicious PDF file.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version newer than 23.001.20093 or 20.005.30441. Avoid opening PDF files from untrusted 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
AcrobatApplication
Affected:>= 20.001.3005, <= 20.005.30441
Acrobat DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.008.20082, <= 23.001.20093
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:>= 20.001.3005, <= 20.005.30441
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.008.20082, <= 23.001.20093

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
    Open Programs and Features (Windows) or Applications folder (Mac) and locate any Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader installation. Note whether it is the standard version or the DC (Document Cloud) variant.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader (standard or DC) is installed
  2. Find the product version number
    In Adobe Acrobat/Reader, click Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat). The version number appears in the format like 20.005.30441 or 23.001.20093.
    Affected if Version cannot be determined or is not visible
  3. Compare standard version against affected range
    If you have Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader (not DC), compare your version to the range >= 20.001.3005 and <= 20.005.30441. Any version in this inclusive range is affected.
    Affected if Version is between 20.001.3005 and 20.005.30441 inclusive
  4. Compare DC version against affected range
    If you have Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, compare your version to the range >= 15.008.20082 and <= 23.001.20093. Any version in this inclusive range is affected.
    Affected if Version is between 15.008.20082 and 23.001.20093 inclusive

You are affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader (standard or DC) is installed and its version falls within the specific vulnerable range for your product variant.

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 23.001.20093
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version newer than 23.001.20093 or 20.005.30441. Avoid opening PDF files from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Acrobat Reader DC/Acrobat DC version 23.006.30620 or later (or latest version from https://get.adobe.com/reader/)

  1. 1. Close all Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader instances
  2. 2. Navigate to the Adobe Acrobat download page at https://get.adobe.com/reader/ or use your organization's software distribution method
  3. 3. Download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (or Acrobat DC)
  4. 4. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the installation
  5. 5. Restart your computer if prompted
  6. 6. Verify the installed version by opening Adobe Reader/Acrobat and checking Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader/Acrobat
Caveat Standard Adobe update - minimal risk; ensure you back up any personal settings if migrating between major version branches

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

Fix this in Acrobat Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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-2023-26417 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