CVE-2023-26420
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 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 confidenceThis is a Use After Free (UAF) vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader where the application continues to use a memory pointer after it has been freed. An attacker can exploit this by crafting a malicious PDF file that, when opened by a victim, allows arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user.
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>= 20.001.3005, <= 20.005.30441>= 15.008.20082, <= 23.001.20093>= 20.001.3005, <= 20.005.30441>= 15.008.20082, <= 23.001.20093CVSS 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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Check if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installedOpen Control Panel > Programs and Features, or look in C:\Program Files\Adobe\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\ for Acrobat or Reader foldersAffected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader is present on the system
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Get the installed version numberFor the executable method: navigate to the Adobe installation folder (typically C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\), right-click AcroRd32.exe or Acrobat.exe, select Properties, and read the Product Version from the Details tab. Alternatively, open the application and go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat ReaderAffected if Unable to retrieve the version number from the executable or application
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Compare version against affected rangesMatch your installed version to the affected ranges: Adobe Acrobat/Reader (continuous version) 20.001.3005 through 20.005.30441, and Adobe Acrobat/Reader DC (classic version) 15.008.20082 through 23.001.20093Affected if The installed version falls within either 20.001.3005-20.005.30441 or 15.008.20082-23.001.20093
The environment is affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed and its version number falls within any of the two affected ranges.
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.
From vendor dataUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version newer than 23.001.20093 or 20.005.30441. Until patched, avoid opening untrusted or unexpected PDF files.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-26420 — 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-2023-26420 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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- 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
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