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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-44356

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-11-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 20.005.30539 / 23.006.20380 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 23.006.20360 (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 confidence

An out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader versions 23.006.20360 and earlier, and 20.005.30524 and earlier allows disclosure of sensitive memory. This can enable attackers to bypass security mitigations like ASLR by reading memory addresses. Exploitation requires user interaction—the victim must open a malicious file.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest patched version. Instruct users to avoid opening PDF files from untrusted or unknown sources.

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, < 23.006.20380
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.008.20082, < 23.006.20380
AcrobatApplication
Affected:>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30539
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:>= 20.001.30005, < 20.005.30539

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    Check for the application in the Windows Start menu, Program Files, or registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat Reader
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader is present on the system
  2. Determine the installed version number
    Open Adobe Acrobat Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader, or check the version in the application's properties window. Alternatively, query the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\[version]\InstallPath
    Affected if The displayed version falls within the affected ranges: 23.x up to 23.006.20360, or 20.x up to 20.005.30524, or versions 15.008.20082 through 20.005.30539 depending on the product line
  3. Confirm the specific product and build variant
    Identify whether the installation is Adobe Acrobat DC, Acrobat Reader DC, Adobe Acrobat (classic), or Adobe Acrobat Reader (classic) by checking the product name in Help > About or in Add/Remove Programs
    Affected if The product matches one of the four affected product lines and the version is below the fixed releases (23.006.20380 for DC variants, 20.005.30539 for classic variants)
  4. Verify if the application handles untrusted PDF files
    Assess whether users on this system typically open PDF files from external or untrusted sources, or check if the system has associated PDF files to open automatically with Adobe Reader
    Affected if Users routinely open PDF documents from email attachments, downloads, or other untrusted sources, which would enable exploitation via a maliciously crafted PDF file

The system is affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat is installed with a version that falls within 15.008.20082 to 23.006.20360 for DC products, or 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30524 for classic products, and users could be persuaded to open a malicious 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 20.005.30539 / 23.006.20380 or later
Fixed in 20.005.3053923.006.20380
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest patched version. Instruct users to avoid opening PDF files from untrusted or unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Acrobat DC/Reader DC: upgrade to version 23.006.20380 or later (Continuous track); Acrobat 2020/Reader 2020: upgrade to version 20.005.30540 or later

  1. 1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat on your system
  2. 2. Navigate to Help > Check for Updates (or use the Help menu)
  3. 3. Allow the application to check for and download available updates
  4. 4. Install the available update to reach version 23.006.20380 or later (for Continuous track)
  5. 5. Alternatively, download the specific fixed version from the Adobe website: https://helpx.adobe.com/
Caveat Regular feature updates included; review Adobe release notes for any behavior changes

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
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,090
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,744.

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-2023-44356 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