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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-38222

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 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 that allows arbitrary code execution. The flaw occurs when the application continues to use a pointer to memory after it has been freed, potentially allowing an attacker to control memory allocation and execute malicious code. Exploitation requires a victim to open a specially crafted malicious PDF file.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to a patched version beyond 23.003.20244 for the 2023 track and beyond 20.005.30467 for the 2020 track. Additionally, educate users to avoid opening PDF files from untrusted 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
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 Acrobat product
    Open Adobe Acrobat Reader or Acrobat, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat). The version number will be displayed in the dialog window. Alternatively, check Add/Remove Programs (Windows) or Applications folder (Mac) for the installed version.
    Affected if The product is Adobe Acrobat Dc, Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc, Adobe Acrobat, or Adobe Acrobat Reader
  2. Confirm the exact version number
    Note the full version number shown in the About dialog - this includes both the major version (e.g., 23.003.xxxxx) and the build number (e.g., 20269). Record the complete version string exactly as displayed.
    Affected if Any Adobe Acrobat or Reader installation is present
  3. Compare against affected version ranges
    Check if the installed version falls within any of these ranges: Acrobat/Reader Dc: 15.008.20082 through 23.003.20268 (2023 track); Acrobat/Reader 2020: 20.001.30005 through 20.005.30516.10516 OR 20.001.30005 through 20.005.30514.10513. Versions before 15.008.20082 or after the upper bounds are not affected.
    Affected if The installed version is >= 15.008.20082 and < 23.003.20269 for the 2023 track, or >= 20.001.30005 and < 20.005.30516.10516 (or < 20.005.30514.10514 depending on the specific release track) for the 2020 track
  4. Verify the application is used to open PDF files
    This vulnerability is triggered when the application opens a specially crafted malicious PDF file. Check whether Adobe Acrobat Reader is set as the default PDF handler or is used regularly to open PDF documents from various sources.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader is used to open PDF files, particularly from untrusted or unknown sources

If Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed and its version falls within the affected ranges (15.008.20082 to 23.003.20268 for 2023 track, or 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30516.10515 for 2020 track), the environment is vulnerable to this Use After Free flaw when opening malicious PDFs.

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 patched version beyond 23.003.20244 for the 2023 track and beyond 20.005.30467 for the 2020 track. Additionally, educate users to avoid opening PDF files from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Acrobat/Acrobat Reader 23.003.20269 or later (or 20.005.30516.10516 for legacy 20.x versions)

  1. 1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader or Acrobat application
  2. 2. Navigate to Help > Check for Updates (or use the Help menu)
  3. 3. Allow the application to check for available updates
  4. 4. If updates are available, download and install the latest version
  5. 5. Alternatively, manually download the fixed version from adobe.com/get/acrobat
  6. 6. Restart the application after installation
  7. 7. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds the fixed release (23.003.20269 or later for version 23.x; 20.005.30516.10516 for version 20.x)
Caveat Standard Adobe update - review release notes for minor feature changes; ensure compatibility with existing PDF workflows

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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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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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-2023-38222 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