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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-38246

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 where the software attempts to use memory that has not been properly initialized. This memory corruption can be triggered by a specially crafted PDF file, allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest patched version beyond 23.003.20244 and 20.005.30467. Until patched, avoid opening PDF files from untrusted sources and consider disabling JavaScript execution in Reader settings.

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 product and version
    Open Adobe Acrobat/Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or Reader). Alternatively on Windows check registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat\InstallVersion, or on macOS check the application bundle info.
    Affected if The product is Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader, and the version falls within these ranges: 15.008.20082 to 23.003.20268 (inclusive), or 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30516.10516 (inclusive), or 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30514.10513 (inclusive).
  2. Confirm the specific product variant
    Determine whether the installation is Adobe Acrobat (paid) or Adobe Acrobat Reader (free) by checking the product name in Help > About.
    Affected if Both Acrobat and Acrobat Reader are affected in their DC and classic versions as listed in the version ranges.
  3. Assess exposure to malicious PDF files
    Review recent PDF files opened from untrusted or unknown sources. Check if JavaScript execution is enabled in Reader (Edit > Preferences > JavaScript).
    Affected if The vulnerability is triggered by opening a specially crafted PDF file; users who open PDF documents from untrusted sources are at higher risk regardless of JavaScript settings.

A user is affected if they have Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader installed with a version matching the affected ranges and they open a maliciously crafted PDF file.

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 patched version beyond 23.003.20244 and 20.005.30467. Until patched, avoid opening PDF files from untrusted sources and consider disabling JavaScript execution in Reader settings.

Recommended fix High confidence

Acrobat DC/Reader DC: version 23.003.20269 or later | Acrobat/Reader 2020: version 20.005.30516.10516 or later

  1. 1. Open Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader on your system
  2. 2. Navigate to Help > Check for Updates (or use the Help menu to check for updates)
  3. 3. Allow Adobe to scan for available updates
  4. 4. If an update is available, download and install the latest version
  5. 5. Alternatively, manually download the fixed version from Adobe's official website: get.adobe.com/reader for Reader or get.adobe.com/acrobat for 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 Continuous track; 20.005.30516.10516 or later for 2020 track)
Caveat Standard Adobe update - minimal risk; ensure you close all PDF documents before updating

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-2023-38246 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