CVE-2023-38242
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 · uneditedAdobe Acrobat Reader versions 23.003.20244 (and earlier) and 20.005.30467 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds read 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 confidenceAdobe Acrobat Reader contains an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in versions 23.003.20244 and earlier, and 20.005.30467 and earlier. The flaw allows disclosure of sensitive memory contents when a victim opens a specially crafted malicious PDF file. While the memory disclosure itself is limited, it can be leveraged to potentially bypass ASLR as an informational attack primitive.
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>= 15.008.20082, < 23.003.20269>= 15.008.20082, < 23.003.20269>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30516.10516>= 20.001.30005, < 20.005.30514.10514>= 20.001.30005, < 20.005.30516.10516>= 20.001.30005, < 20.005.30514.10514CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat is installedOn Windows, open Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat or HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat, or check Program Files for Adobe Acrobat folders. On macOS, check /Applications for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader.Affected if The software is not installed on the system.
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Determine the installed version of Adobe Acrobat or ReaderIf using the application, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or Reader). Alternatively, check the registry value 'Version' under the installation key found in the previous step, or right-click the executable file and view Properties > Details.Affected if Unable to determine the version number from registry, application menu, or file properties.
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Compare the installed version against the affected rangesThe affected versions are: For DC products: >= 15.008.20082 and < 23.003.20269. For classic products: >= 20.001.30005 and < 20.005.30516.10516 (or < 20.005.30514.10514 for the secondary range). If the installed version falls within any of these ranges, the system is vulnerable.Affected if The installed version matches any of the following: DC versions from 15.008.20082 up to 23.003.20268, or classic versions from 20.001.30005 up to 20.005.30516.10515 (or up to 20.005.30514.10513 for the secondary range).
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Verify if PDF files can be opened with the affected applicationConfirm that the installed Adobe Acrobat or Reader is set as the default handler for PDF files, or that users have the ability to open PDF files using the application. This can be checked by attempting to open a PDF or by checking file associations in the system.Affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed with a vulnerable version but is not configured to open PDF files and no users open PDFs with it.
A system is affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, Adobe Acrobat DC, Adobe Acrobat Reader, or Adobe Acrobat is installed with a version number within the vulnerable ranges (15.008.20082 to 23.003.20268 for DC products, or 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30516.10515 for classic products) and the application is capable of opening PDF files.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped20.005.30514.1051420.005.30516.1051623.003.20269
Update Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version newer than 23.003.20244 or 20.005.30467. Additionally, educate users to avoid opening untrusted PDF files from unknown sources as a defense-in-depth measure.
Adobe Acrobat/Reader 23.003.20269 or later (for 23.x line); Adobe Acrobat/Reader 20.005.30516.10516 or later (for 20.x line)
- 1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat on your system.
- 2. Navigate to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat) to check your current version number.
- 3. If your version is affected (below 23.003.20269 for version 23.x line, or below 20.005.30516.10516 for version 20.x line), proceed to upgrade.
- 4. Download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat from the official Adobe website (get.adobe.com/reader for Reader, or adobe.com for Acrobat).
- 5. Run the installer and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the upgrade.
- 6. After installation, restart the application and verify the version has been updated to a fixed release.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-38242 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-38242 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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