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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-44366

HIGH · 7.8 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 →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
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 write 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 confidence

An out-of-bounds write vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader versions 23.006.20360 and earlier, and 20.005.30524 and earlier allows arbitrary code execution in the current user's context. Successful exploitation requires a victim to open a maliciously crafted PDF file, making this a client-side memory corruption vulnerability.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version newer than 23.006.20360 or 20.005.30524. Until updated, avoid opening PDF files from untrusted 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
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 checks

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

  1. Check Adobe Acrobat Reader version on Windows
    Open Adobe Acrobat Reader, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the exact version number displayed in the dialog box
    Affected if The version shown is 23.006.20360 or earlier, OR falls between 20.001.30005 and 20.005.30524 inclusive, OR is 15.008.20082 or higher but less than 23.006.20380
  2. Check Adobe Acrobat version on Windows
    Open Adobe Acrobat, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat to view the exact version number displayed in the dialog box
    Affected if The version shown is 23.006.20360 or earlier, OR falls between 20.001.30005 and 20.005.30524 inclusive, OR is 15.008.20082 or higher but less than 23.006.20380
  3. Check installed Adobe product via Windows Registry
    Open regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat Reader, then examine the InstallVersion and Version subkeys to determine the installed version
    Affected if The version value matches the affected ranges listed in the CVE (versions prior to 23.006.20380 for 15.x track, or prior to 20.005.30539 for 20.x track)
  4. Check Adobe product on macOS
    Open Finder, navigate to /Applications, locate Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat, right-click and select Get Info to view the version number under the General section
    Affected if The version shown is 23.006.20360 or earlier, OR falls between 20.001.30005 and 20.005.30524 inclusive, OR is 15.008.20082 or higher but less than 23.006.20380

You are affected if your installed Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat version falls within the ranges: 15.008.20082 to 23.006.20379, 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30538, or any version 23.006.20360 and earlier.

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 or 20.005.30524. Until updated, avoid opening PDF files from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Acrobat DC (Continuous): 23.006.20380 or later; Acrobat DC (Classic 2020): 20.005.30535 or later

  1. 1. Determine which Acrobat product and track (Continuous or Classic) is currently installed by opening Acrobat and going to Help > About Adobe Acrobat.
  2. 2. For Acrobat DC (Continuous track): Upgrade to version 23.006.20380 or later.
  3. 3. For Acrobat DC (Classic 2020 track): Upgrade to version 20.005.30535 or later.
  4. 4. Download the latest version from the official Adobe website at get.adobe.com/reader or helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/release-notes.html
  5. 5. Close all running instances of Adobe Acrobat/Reader before installing the update.
  6. 6. Run the installer and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the upgrade.
  7. 7. After installation, verify the new version by checking Help > About Adobe Acrobat to confirm the version number matches the fixed release.
  8. 8. Restart the system to ensure all components are properly updated.
Caveat Standard upgrade - may require restart; ensure compatibility with existing PDF workflows and plugins before deploying in production environments

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
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-2023-44366 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