CVE-2023-44340
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 23.006.20360 (and earlier) and 20.005.30524 (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 confidenceThis is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader where a maliciously crafted PDF file can cause the application to read memory outside allocated buffers. Successful exploitation can disclose sensitive memory contents and potentially aid in bypassing security mitigations like ASLR. The attack requires user interaction—opening the malicious PDF 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>= 15.008.20082, < 23.006.20380>= 15.008.20082, < 23.006.20380>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30539>= 20.001.30005, < 20.005.30539CVSS 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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Locate Adobe Acrobat Reader installationCheck for the presence of AcroRd32.exe (32-bit) or AcroRd64.exe (64-bit) in typical installation paths such as C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Reader or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Reader. On macOS, check /Applications/Adobe Acrobat Reader DC.app.Affected if If either executable exists, Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed.
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Retrieve installed product versionRight-click AcroRd32.exe or AcroRd64.exe, select Properties, then view the Details tab for Product Version. Alternatively, open Adobe Acrobat Reader, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader to display the exact version number.Affected if The version displayed is the installed version to compare against affected ranges.
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Compare version against vulnerable 2023 track rangeCheck if the installed version falls between 15.008.20082 and 23.006.20379 (inclusive). Versions below 15.008.20082 or at/above 23.006.20380 are not affected by this CVE in the 2023 track.Affected if Version is >= 15.008.20082 AND < 23.006.20380, indicating the 2023 track is vulnerable.
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Compare version against vulnerable 2020 track rangeCheck if the installed version falls between 20.001.30005 and 20.005.30538 (inclusive). Versions below 20.001.30005 or at/above 20.005.30539 are not affected by this CVE in the 2020 track.Affected if Version is >= 20.001.30005 AND < 20.005.30539, indicating the 2020 track is vulnerable.
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Verify PDF file handling is enabledThis vulnerability is triggered simply by opening a PDF file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. No specific add-on, plugin, or JavaScript feature needs to be enabled for exploitation, the attack surface is the PDF rendering engine itself.Affected if PDF file opening capability is always enabled by default in Adobe Acrobat Reader, so the exploit can trigger upon opening a malicious PDF.
If the installed Adobe Acrobat Reader version falls within 15.008.20082 to 23.006.20379 (2023 track) or 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30538 (2020 track), and the user opens a malicious PDF file, the environment is affected by this CVE.
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 · scoped20.005.3053923.006.20380
Update Adobe Acrobat Reader to version 23.006.20360 or later for the 2023 track, or 20.005.30524 or later for the 2020 track. Implement file screening and user training to avoid opening untrusted PDF documents.
Adobe Acrobat/Reader 23.006.20380 (or later for 23.x line); Adobe Acrobat/Reader 20.005.30540 or later for 20.x line
- 1. Verify the current installed version of Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader by opening the application, selecting 'Help' > 'About Adobe Acrobat Reader' (or 'About Adobe Acrobat')
- 2. For version 23.x users: Download and install Adobe Acrobat/Reader version 23.006.20380 or later from the official Adobe website
- 3. For version 20.x users: Download and install the latest available version of Adobe Acrobat/Reader version 20.005.30540 or later from the official Adobe website
- 4. After installation, restart the application and verify the version by checking 'Help' > 'About' to confirm the update was successful
- 5. Ensure users are trained to avoid opening untrusted PDF files from unknown sources, as exploitation requires user interaction
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-2023-44340 — 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-2023-44340 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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