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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-29303

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-08-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 20.005.30514.10514 / 20.005.30516.10516 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 23.003.20244 (and earlier) and 20.005.30467 (and earlier) are affected by a Use After Free vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to bypass mitigations such as ASLR. 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

A Use After Free vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader allows attackers to read sensitive memory contents and potentially bypass ASLR security mitigations. Exploitation requires a victim to open a maliciously crafted PDF file.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to version 23.003.20245 or later for the 23.x branch, or version 20.005.30468 or later for the 20.x branch. Avoid opening untrusted PDF files from 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
Acrobat DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.008.20082, < 23.003.20269
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.008.20082, < 23.003.20269
AcrobatApplication
Affected:>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30516.10516>= 20.001.30005, < 20.005.30514.10514
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:>= 20.001.30005, < 20.005.30516.10516>= 20.001.30005, < 20.005.30514.10514

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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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. Confirm Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    Open Windows Settings > Apps > Apps & features, or use Control Panel > Programs and Features. Look for Adobe Acrobat DC, Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, Adobe Acrobat, or Adobe Acrobat Reader in the installed programs list.
    Affected if No Adobe Acrobat or Reader product is listed in installed programs (not vulnerable - product not present)
  2. Locate the installed Acrobat executable
    Navigate to the Adobe installation directory, typically C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\. Identify the main executable: AcroRd32.exe for Reader, or Acro.exe for Acrobat.
    Affected if Executable not found at expected paths (not vulnerable - product may be installed differently or removed)
  3. Retrieve the file version
    Right-click the identified executable (AcroRd32.exe or Acro.exe), select Properties, then go to the Details tab. Note the Product version and File version values.
    Affected if Unable to retrieve version information from executable properties
  4. Compare installed version against affected ranges
    Document the full version number (e.g., 22.001.20620 for 22.x branch, or 20.005.30516 for 20.x branch). Compare against: 15.008.20082 to 23.003.20268 (23.x branch), 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30516.10516 or 20.005.30514.10513 (20.x branch).
    Affected if Installed version falls within: >= 15.008.20082 and < 23.003.20269 for 23.x branch; OR >= 20.001.30005 and < 20.005.30516.10516 (or < 20.005.30514.10514) for 20.x branch

The environment is affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed with a version number matching the ranges 15.008.20082 to 23.003.20268 (Continuous/2023 track) or 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30516.10516 (Classic 2020 track), and the victim opens a malicious PDF file.

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 20.005.30514.10514 / 20.005.30516.10516 / 23.003.20269 or later
Fixed in 20.005.30514.1051420.005.30516.1051623.003.20269
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat Reader to version 23.003.20245 or later for the 23.x branch, or version 20.005.30468 or later for the 20.x branch. Avoid opening untrusted PDF files from unknown sources.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Adobe Acrobat Reader/Acrobat Continuous: >=23.003.20269; Classic 2020: >=20.005.30516

  1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader or Acrobat on your system
  2. Navigate to Help > Check for Updates (or use the Help menu)
  3. Allow Adobe to check for and install the latest updates
  4. Alternatively, download the latest version from the official Adobe website: https://get.adobe.com/reader/ (for Reader) or https://get.adobe.com/acrobat/ (for Acrobat)
  5. After updating, verify the version by going to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat)
  6. Confirm the version number meets the minimum fixed releases: 23.003.20269 or higher for Continuous track, or 20.005.30516 or higher for Classic 2020 track
Caveat Standard minor version upgrade; no major breaking changes expected for typical users

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
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
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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-2023-29303 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