CVE-2023-38245
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 Information Disclosure vulnerability. An unauthenticated attacker could leverage this vulnerability to obtain NTLMv2 credentials. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a maliciously crafted Microsoft Office file, or visit an attacker controlled web page.
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 information disclosure vulnerability allowing unauthenticated attackers to capture NTLMv2 credentials. The attack requires user interaction—either opening a malicious Microsoft Office file or visiting an attacker-controlled webpage that triggers the credential capture mechanism.
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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Identify installed Adobe product and versionOpen Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader, then navigate to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or Reader). Alternatively, in Windows go to Control Panel > Programs and Features and locate the Adobe product entry to see the installed version number.Affected if The installed version is Adobe Acrobat/Reader DC (Continuous) version 15.008.20082 or higher but lower than 23.003.20269, OR Adobe Acrobat/Reader (Classic) version 20.001.30005 or higher but lower than 20.005.30516.10516 (or 20.005.30514.10514 for certain branches).
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Confirm NTLM authentication is enabledCheck Windows authentication settings. In Windows, open Local Security Policy (secpol.msc) > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options and verify if 'Network security: LAN Manager authentication level' is set to allow NTLM responses. Also check if the system is joined to a domain where NTLM is used.Affected if NTLM authentication is allowed (not disabled at the domain or local level). The vulnerability requires NTLM to be available for the credential theft to succeed.
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Verify if user interaction with untrusted content is possibleDetermine if users can open attachments or documents from external sources, or browse to untrusted websites. Check if email attachment filtering or web browsing restrictions are in place.Affected if Users can open Office files (such as .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx) from untrusted sources, or can visit attacker-controlled webpages while logged into a network using NTLM authentication.
Your environment is affected if you have a vulnerable Adobe Acrobat/Reader version installed AND NTLM authentication is enabled AND users can interact with untrusted content (Office files or websites) that could trigger the credential capture mechanism.
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 version 23.006.20320 or later (or 20.005.30517 or later for the 20.x branch). Additionally, consider disabling NTLM authentication or implementing network-level protections against NTLM relay attacks to reduce credential theft risk.
Acrobat DC/Reader DC: 23.003.20269 or later | Acrobat/Reader 2020: 20.005.30516 or later
- 1. Verify current Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader version by opening the application and navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat).
- 2. For Acrobat DC/Acrobat Reader DC users: Upgrade to version 23.003.20269 or later.
- 3. For Acrobat 2020/Acrobat Reader 2020 users: Upgrade to version 20.005.30516 (or 20.005.30514) or later.
- 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. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the upgrade.
- 6. After installation, verify the new version by checking Help > About to confirm the fix is applied.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-38245 — 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-2023-38245 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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