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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-44360

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 · moderate confidence

This is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader that allows reading memory beyond allocated buffers, potentially exposing sensitive information. Attackers could exploit this to leak memory addresses and bypass ASLR mitigation. Exploitation requires user interaction where a victim must open a malicious PDF file.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version newer than 23.006.20360 (for Continuous/Classic tracks) or 20.005.30524 (for 2020 track). Avoid opening untrusted PDF files from 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 installed Adobe Acrobat Reader product
    Open Adobe Acrobat Reader and navigate to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader. Alternatively, on Windows check the version in the application executable properties, or query the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat for DC versions or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat Reader for 2020 versions.
    Affected if The product name matches Adobe Acrobat Dc, Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc, Adobe Acrobat, or Adobe Acrobat Reader and the version falls within the affected ranges.
  2. Determine the exact version number
    Record the full version string displayed in the About dialog or registry. For DC track look for versions starting with 15.x (2015), 20.x (2020), or 23.x (2023). For Classic/Traditional track look for versions starting with 20.x.
    Affected if The version is 15.008.20082 or higher for DC 2015 track, 20.001.30005 through 20.005.30539 for DC 2020 or Traditional 2020 track, or below 23.006.20380 for DC 2023 track.
  3. Confirm PDF file handling is the attack vector
    This vulnerability is triggered when a user opens a specially crafted PDF file. No specific configuration toggle controls this behavior - it is the core function of the PDF reader.
    Affected if The ability to open PDF files is available and the user handles PDFs from external sources, which is the default operational state of the application.

A user is affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat is installed with a version matching 15.008.20082 to 15.x (before 23.006.20380), 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30539, or any 23.x version below 23.006.20380.

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 a version newer than 23.006.20360 (for Continuous/Classic tracks) or 20.005.30524 (for 2020 track). Avoid opening untrusted PDF files from unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Acrobat/Acrobat Reader 23.x: upgrade to 23.006.20380 or later; Acrobat/Acrobat Reader 20.x: upgrade to 20.005.30540 or later

  1. 1. Verify current Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader version by opening the application and navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat).
  2. 2. For version 23.x users: Upgrade to version 23.006.20380 or later (the latest 23.x release recommended).
  3. 3. For version 20.x users: Upgrade to version 20.005.30540 or later (the latest 20.x release recommended).
  4. 4. Download the updated version from the official Adobe website at helpx.adobe.com or use the application's built-in update feature (Help > Check for Updates).
  5. 5. Restart the application after installation completes.
  6. 6. Verify the installed version matches the target fixed release to confirm remediation.
Caveat Standard Adobe update - minimal risk; ensure stable power during installation and close other applications

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

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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-2023-44360 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