CVE-2023-44365
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 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 confidenceThis is an uninitialized pointer vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader that allows arbitrary code execution when a victim opens a malicious PDF file. The vulnerability exists in versions 23.006.20360 and earlier (2023) as well as 20.005.30524 and earlier (2020). Since the pointer is uninitialized, memory corruption occurs during use, potentially allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the current user.
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
- 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Adobe Acrobat Reader DC version on WindowsOpen Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\InstallPath, then right-click the Acrobat.exe file in that path, select Properties, and view the Version tab. Alternatively, open Command Prompt and run: dir "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe" /sAffected if The version number shown is 23.006.20360 or earlier, or falls between 15.008.20082 and 23.006.20379 (inclusive)
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Check Adobe Acrobat DC version on WindowsNavigate to the InstallPath in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\InstallPath from the registry, then right-click Acrobat.exe and view the Version tab, or use: dir "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe" /sAffected if The version is 23.006.20360 or earlier, or falls between 15.008.20082 and 23.006.20379
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Check Adobe Acrobat Reader 2020 versionLook in the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat Reader\2020\InstallPath or check C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat Reader 2020\Reader\AcroRd32.exe, then view the file version propertiesAffected if The version is 20.005.30524 or earlier, or falls between 20.001.30005 and 20.005.30538 (inclusive)
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Check Adobe Acrobat 2020 versionCheck HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\2020\InstallPath or C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 2020\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe, then view the file versionAffected if The version is 20.005.30524 or earlier, or falls between 20.001.30005 and 20.005.30538 (inclusive)
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Verify on macOS if installedOpen Terminal and run: defaults read "/Applications/Adobe Acrobat Reader DC.app/Contents/Info" CFBundleVersion (or substitute Adobe Acrobat DC.app for the Pro version)Affected if The version returned is 23.006.20360 or earlier for 2023 versions, or 20.005.30524 or earlier for 2020 versions
You are affected if any installed Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader version falls within the ranges: 15.008.20082 to 23.006.20379 (2023 track) or 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30538 (2020 track).
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 the latest patched version. Avoid opening PDF files from untrusted or unknown sources.
Adobe Acrobat Reader/Acrobat 23.006.20380 or later (2023 track); 20.005.30539 or later (2020 track)
- 1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader or Acrobat DC
- 2. Navigate to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat DC) to check the current version
- 3. If version is below 23.006.20380 (for Continuous/2023 track) or below 20.005.30539 (for 2020 track), proceed with upgrade
- 4. Download the latest version from the official Adobe website (get.adobe.com/reader or adobe.com/acrobat)
- 5. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the upgrade
- 6. Restart the application after installation completes
- 7. Verify the version now shows 23.006.20380 or later (2023 track), or 20.005.30539 or later (2020 track)
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-2023-44365 — 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-2023-44365 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data