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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-44358

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

Adobe Acrobat Reader contains an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that allows reading memory beyond allocated buffers. This can expose sensitive information from the application's memory space and potentially be leveraged to defeat ASLR address space layout randomization protections. Exploitation requires a victim to open a specially crafted malicious file.

MitigationApply the vendor patches for Adobe Acrobat Reader (version 23.006.20360 or later for the 2023 track, version 20.005.30524 or later for the 2020 track). Until patches are applied, avoid opening untrusted or unexpected PDF documents.

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 installed Adobe product
    Open Adobe Acrobat or Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat). The product name and version will be displayed in the dialog window. On Windows, you can also check Add/Remove Programs or the Programs and Features control panel.
    Affected if The installed product is Adobe Acrobat Dc, Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc, Adobe Acrobat, or Adobe Acrobat Reader.
  2. Determine the product version
    Note the full version number displayed in the About dialog. For Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc or Adobe Acrobat Dc, look for a version in the format 23.x.x.xxxx (2023 track) or 20.xxx.xxxxx (2020 track).
    Affected if A version number is displayed.
  3. Compare version against affected ranges for 2023 track
    If the product is Acrobat Dc or Reader Dc with version 23.x.x.xxxx, verify whether the version falls within >= 15.008.20082 and < 23.006.20380. Versions 23.006.20380 and later are not affected.
    Affected if The installed version is 15.008.20082 or higher but lower than 23.006.20380.
  4. Compare version against affected ranges for 2020 track
    If the product is Acrobat or Reader (non-DC) with version 20.xxx.xxxxx, verify whether the version falls within >= 20.001.30005 and <= 20.005.30539. Versions 20.005.30540 and later are not affected.
    Affected if The installed version is 20.001.30005 or higher but no higher than 20.005.30539.
  5. Assess file opening behavior
    Since exploitation requires opening a specially crafted file, evaluate whether the system routinely opens PDF files from untrusted or unexpected sources. Check recent PDF files opened from email attachments, downloads, or network shares.
    Affected if Users regularly open PDF files from untrusted or unknown sources without verifying the file origin.

You are affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed with a version that falls within the affected ranges (15.008.20082 to 23.006.20379 for 2023 track, or 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30539 for 2020 track) AND users open PDF files from untrusted sources.

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

Apply the vendor patches for Adobe Acrobat Reader (version 23.006.20360 or later for the 2023 track, version 20.005.30524 or later for the 2020 track). Until patches are applied, avoid opening untrusted or unexpected PDF documents.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat DC/Reader DC: version 23.006.20380 or later; Adobe Acrobat Classic 2020/Reader Classic 2020: version 20.005.30540 or later

  1. Check current Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader version by opening the application and navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader or About Adobe Acrobat
  2. Close all Adobe applications before updating
  3. Download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader from the official Adobe website (helpx.adobe.com) or through the built-in update mechanism (Help > Check for Updates)
  4. Install the update by running the downloaded installer and following the on-screen prompts
  5. Verify the update was successful by checking the version number again in Help > About
Caveat Users should back up any custom settings or plugins before upgrading, as some configurations may need to be re-applied after update

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
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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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-2023-44358 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