dbcve.org
Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-38226

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 Access of Uninitialized Pointer 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

Adobe Acrobat Reader contains an Access of Uninitialized Pointer vulnerability that allows arbitrary code execution when a victim opens a specially crafted malicious PDF file. The vulnerability affects versions 23.003.20244 and earlier for the 2023 track, and versions 20.005.30467 and earlier for the 2020 track.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version newer than 23.003.20244 (2023 track) or 20.005.30467 (2020 track). Avoid opening untrusted or unsolicited 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
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
    On Windows, open Control Panel > Programs and Features, or right-click the Acrobat/Reader shortcut and select Properties > Details to see the version. On macOS, open Finder > Applications, right-click Adobe Acrobat/Reader, and select Get Info.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed
  2. Determine exact version number
    In Adobe Acrobat/Reader, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader. The version will display in the format like 23.xxx.xxxxx or 20.xxx.xxxxx.
    Affected if Version number is visible and matches Adobe product versioning
  3. Check 2023 track version
    Compare your installed version to the affected range: versions 23.003.20244 and earlier (or < 23.003.20269 per product table).
    Affected if Version starts with 23.x and is less than 23.003.20269, or is 23.003.20244 or earlier
  4. Check 2020 track version
    Compare your installed version to the affected range: versions 20.005.30467 and earlier (or < 20.005.30516.10516 per product table).
    Affected if Version starts with 20.x and is less than 20.005.30516.10516, or is 20.005.30467 or earlier
  5. Check legacy 15.x track version
    If version starts with 15.x (such as 15.008.20082), verify it is below 23.003.20269.
    Affected if Version starts with 15.008.20082 or higher and is below 23.003.20269

User is affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed and the version falls within any of the affected ranges: 2023 track versions before 23.003.20269 (or 23.003.20244 and earlier), or 2020/legacy track versions before 20.005.30516.10516 (or 20.005.30467 and earlier).

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 (2023 track) or 20.005.30467 (2020 track). Avoid opening untrusted or unsolicited PDF files from unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Acrobat DC/Reader DC: 23.003.20269 or later; Acrobat/Reader 2020: version greater than 20.005.30516.10516

  1. 1. Identify the currently installed Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader version by opening the application, selecting 'Help' > 'About Adobe Acrobat Reader' (or 'About Adobe Acrobat')
  2. 2. For version 23.x users: Upgrade to version 23.003.20269 or later (recommended: latest 2023 release)
  3. 3. For version 20.x users: Upgrade to a version greater than 20.005.30516.10516 (recommended: latest 2020 release)
  4. 4. Download the latest version from the official Adobe website at https://get.adobe.com/reader/ (for Reader) or https://get.adobe.com/acrobat/ (for Acrobat)
  5. 5. Run the installer and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the upgrade
  6. 6. After installation, verify the new version by checking 'Help' > 'About' to confirm the fix is applied
  7. 7. Ensure automatic updates are enabled to receive future security patches
Caveat Standard upgrade - review Adobe release notes for any changes to features or system requirements

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

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-38226 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2023-38226 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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