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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-38227

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 · moderate confidence

A Use After Free vulnerability exists in Adobe Acrobat Reader versions 23.003.20244 and earlier, as well as 20.005.30467 and earlier. The flaw allows an attacker to potentially execute arbitrary code by exploiting freed memory that is still accessed, in the context of the current user session.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest version beyond 23.003.20244 and 20.005.30467. Users should avoid opening PDF files from untrusted sources, as exploitation requires user interaction to open a malicious file.

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. Confirm Adobe Acrobat product is installed
    Check for Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat installation by looking in Program Files (Windows) or Applications folder (Mac). On Windows, also check Registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall for entries containing 'Adobe Acrobat' or 'Adobe Acrobat Reader'.
    Affected if No Adobe product found means not affected by this CVE.
  2. Identify the exact product name and version
    In Windows, right-click the installed Acrobat executable (typically in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\), select Properties, and view the Version tab. On Mac, right-click the app in Applications, select Get Info, and view the Version field.
    Affected if Product must be Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader to be affected.
  3. Compare version against affected ranges for Continuous (DC) track
    If using Acrobat DC or Reader DC (Continuous track), compare your version number to: versions 15.008.20082 through 23.003.20244 (Reader) or < 23.003.20269 (Acrobat). Your version is vulnerable if it falls in this range.
    Affected if Version is between 15.008.20082 and 23.003.20244 (Reader) or < 23.003.20269 (Acrobat) - you are affected.
  4. Compare version against affected ranges for Classic track
    If using Acrobat or Reader Classic (20.x versions), compare your version to: >= 20.001.30005 and < 20.005.30516.10516, or >= 20.001.30005 and < 20.005.30514.10514. Your version is vulnerable if it falls in either range.
    Affected if Version is 20.001.30005 through 20.005.30467 - you are affected.

If Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat is installed and the version falls within any of the listed vulnerable ranges, the environment is affected by this CVE.

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 the latest version beyond 23.003.20244 and 20.005.30467. Users should avoid opening PDF files from untrusted sources, as exploitation requires user interaction to open a malicious file.

Recommended fix High confidence

Acrobat DC (Continuous): 23.003.20269 or later | Acrobat Classic 2020: 20.005.30516 or later

  1. Identify the installed Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader product version and track (Continuous/Classic)
  2. Download the fixed version from the official Adobe website or your organization's software distribution point
  3. Close all running instances of Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader
  4. Run the installer for the fixed version: 23.003.20269 or later for DC track, 20.005.30516 or later for Classic 2020 track
  5. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation
  6. Restart the application and verify the version under Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader
Caveat Standard version upgrade; minimal risk; ensure compatibility with any existing plugins or workflows

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
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-2023-38227 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