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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-29320

HIGH · 7.8 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 →
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 23.003.20244 (and earlier) and 20.005.30467 (and earlier) are affected by an Violation of Secure Design Principles vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user by bypassing the API blacklisting feature. 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

Adobe Acrobat Reader contains a vulnerability where the API blacklisting security feature can be bypassed, allowing arbitrary code execution in the current user's context. This is a secure design flaw rather than memory corruption, and exploitation requires a victim to open a malicious PDF file.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version newer than 23.003.20244 (for 2023 track) or 20.005.30467 (for 2020 track) to patch the API blacklisting bypass vulnerability.

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
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. Locate Adobe Acrobat or Reader installation
    Search for acrobat.exe or AcroRd32.exe in typical installation directories: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\, C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 2020\, or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\. Also check HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall for installed Adobe products.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat DC, Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, Adobe Acrobat 2020, or Adobe Acrobat Reader 2020 is found on the system
  2. Determine installed product version
    Right-click the executable (Acrobat.exe or AcroRd32.exe), select Properties, and view the Version tab. Alternatively, run 'wmic product where "name like 'Adobe Acrobat%'" get name,version' or query the registry key under the Adobe installation path for the Version value.
    Affected if The displayed version falls within any of these ranges: 15.008.20082 through 23.003.20268 (2023 track), 20.001.30005 through 20.005.30516.10516 (2020 track continuous), or 20.001.30005 through 20.005.30514.10513 (2020 track earlier)
  3. Confirm product is Adobe Acrobat Reader (not another PDF viewer)
    Verify the product name in the executable properties or registry key indicates Acrobat Reader specifically, not third-party PDF software. The vulnerability affects Adobe's API blacklisting, not other PDF viewers.
    Affected if The installed product is Adobe Acrobat Reader (variant: AcroRd32.exe) and version is in the affected ranges
  4. Check if JavaScript execution is enabled
    In Adobe Acrobat/Reader, go to Edit > Preferences > JavaScript and verify if Adobe JavaScript is enabled. Alternatively, check the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\Acrobat\DC\JavaScript if present.
    Affected if JavaScript is enabled (this is the typical vector - the API blacklist bypass allows malicious JavaScript in PDFs to execute native code)

A user is affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed with a version between 15.008.20082 and 23.003.20268 (2023 track) or between 20.001.30005 and 20.005.30516 (2020 track), with JavaScript enabled, and the user opens PDF files from untrusted sources.

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 a version newer than 23.003.20244 (for 2023 track) or 20.005.30467 (for 2020 track) to patch the API blacklisting bypass vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Acrobat DC/Reader DC: 23.003.20269 or later | Acrobat/Reader 2020 (Classic): 20.005.30516 (Windows) / 20.005.30514 (Mac) or later

  1. 1. Verify the currently installed Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader version by opening the application and navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat or About Adobe Reader
  2. 2. For Acrobat/Acrobat Reader DC (Continuous): If version is below 23.003.20269, download and install the latest version from https://get.adobe.com/reader/ or https://get.adobe.com/acrobat/
  3. 3. For Acrobat/Acrobat Reader 2020 (Classic): If version is below 20.005.30516 (Windows) or 20.005.30514 (Mac), download and install the appropriate patched version from Adobe's official security bulletin page at helpx.adobe.com
  4. 4. Restart the application after installation completes
  5. 5. Verify the updated version by checking Help > About to confirm the fix version is installed
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
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2023-29320 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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