dbcve.org
BridgeApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-38216

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 13.0.4 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 Bridge versions 12.0.4 (and earlier) and 13.0.3 (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

Adobe Bridge versions 12.0.4 and earlier and 13.0.3 and earlier contain a Use After Free vulnerability that can lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. An attacker can exploit this by tricking a user into opening a malicious file, potentially bypassing ASLR memory protections.

MitigationApply the vendor security patch by updating Adobe Bridge to version 13.0.4 or later (for the 13.x branch) or the patched version for the 12.x branch as provided by Adobe's official security advisory.

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
BridgeApplication
Affected:<= 12.0.4>= 13.0.0, < 13.0.4

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. Check if Adobe Bridge is installed
    Windows: Look for Adobe Bridge folder in C:\Program Files\Adobe\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\. macOS: Check /Applications for Adobe Bridge.app or run: ls /Applications | grep -i 'Adobe Bridge'
    Affected if Adobe Bridge application is present on the system
  2. Locate the Adobe Bridge executable
    Windows: Navigate to the Adobe Bridge installation folder (typically Program Files/Adobe/Adobe Bridge [version]). macOS: Locate Adobe Bridge.app in /Applications
    Affected if Cannot locate the Adobe Bridge executable
  3. Determine the installed version number
    Windows: Right-click Adobe Bridge.exe, select Properties, go to Details tab, note the File Version or Product Version. macOS: Right-click Adobe Bridge.app, select Get Info, note the Version field under General
    Affected if Unable to retrieve version information from the executable or application
  4. Compare version against affected ranges
    Check if the installed version falls within: 12.0.4 or any earlier 12.x version, OR any version from 13.0.0 through 13.0.3. Version 13.0.4 and later are not affected
    Affected if Installed version is 12.0.4 or lower, or is 13.0.0 through 13.0.3

The system is affected if Adobe Bridge is installed and the version is 12.0.4 or earlier, or between 13.0.0 and 13.0.3 inclusive

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 13.0.4 or later
Fixed in 13.0.4
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor security patch by updating Adobe Bridge to version 13.0.4 or later (for the 13.x branch) or the patched version for the 12.x branch as provided by Adobe's official security advisory.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Bridge 13.0.4 or later

  1. Navigate to the official Adobe Bridge download page at helpx.adobe.com
  2. Download Adobe Bridge version 13.0.4 or later (or the latest available version)
  3. Close any running instances of Adobe Bridge
  4. Install the downloaded Adobe Bridge update
  5. Restart Adobe Bridge after installation completes
  6. Verify the installed version by navigating to Help > About Adobe Bridge to confirm the update was successful

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

Fix this in Bridge Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.

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-2023-38216 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