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AcrobatApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-26422

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 affecting versions 23.001.20093 and earlier, as well as 20.005.30441 and earlier. The flaw allows arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user when a victim opens a specially crafted malicious PDF file.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version newer than 23.001.20093 or 20.005.30441. Users should avoid opening PDF files from untrusted or unknown 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 type
    On Windows, open the application and go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader. On Mac, locate the app in Applications, right-click, select Get Info, and check the version number in the Name & Version section. Alternatively, check Add/Remove Programs (Windows) or the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe for product identification.
    Affected if The installed product is Adobe Acrobat Reader, Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc, Adobe Acrobat, or Adobe Acrobat Dc.
  2. Determine exact version number
    Record the full version number shown in the About dialog (e.g., 23.001.20093, 20.005.30441, 15.008.20082, 20.001.3005). Ensure you capture all numeric segments as the version comparison requires the complete number.
    Affected if Version cannot be determined or is not visible.
  3. Compare against affected version ranges
    For Adobe Acrobat Reader: check if version is >= 20.001.3005 and <= 20.005.30441. For Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc: check if version is >= 15.008.20082 and <= 23.001.20093. For Adobe Acrobat: check if version is >= 20.001.3005 and <= 20.005.30441. For Adobe Acrobat Dc: check if version is >= 15.008.20082 and <= 23.001.20093. Versions outside these ranges or products not listed are not affected.
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of the listed affected version ranges for the corresponding product.

A user is affected if they have Adobe Acrobat Reader, Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc, Adobe Acrobat, or Adobe Acrobat Dc installed with a version number matching the specified vulnerable ranges (20.001.3005 to 20.005.30441 for Reader/Acrobat, or 15.008.20082 to 23.001.20093 for Reader Dc/Acrobat Dc).

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. Users should avoid opening PDF files from untrusted or unknown sources.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Upgrade to a version newer than 20.005.30441 or 23.001.20093 (check Adobe's official security bulletin for the exact patched release)

  1. 1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat on your system.
  2. 2. Navigate to Help > Check for Updates (or use the Help menu in your specific version).
  3. 3. Allow the application to check for and install any available security updates.
  4. 4. Alternatively, download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader or Acrobat from the official Adobe website at adobe.com.
  5. 5. After updating, verify the version by going to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat) to confirm you are on a version higher than 20.005.30441 or 23.001.20093.

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

Fix this in Acrobat Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2023-26422 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