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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-44371

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 a Use After Free 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

A Use After Free vulnerability exists in Adobe Acrobat Reader versions 23.006.20360 and earlier, as well as 20.005.30524 and earlier. The vulnerability allows arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user through a malicious file that must be opened by the victim.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version newer than 23.006.20360 (for modern branches) or 20.005.30524 (for legacy branches) to address the Use After Free vulnerability.

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. Identify installed Adobe product
    Check if Adobe Acrobat Dc, Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc, Adobe Acrobat, or Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed on the system. This can be done by looking in Programs and Features (Windows) or by searching for the application in the system.
    Affected if Any of the four affected products are installed
  2. Determine exact installed version
    Open Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat, then navigate to Help > About (or similar menu option) to view the exact version number. Alternatively, check the program files directory or use system inventory tools.
    Affected if The version falls within any of the affected ranges: 15.008.20082 to 23.006.20379 for DC branches, or 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30538 for legacy branches
  3. Verify vulnerability trigger condition
    The vulnerability is triggered when a user opens a specially crafted malicious PDF file. This is not a remote code execution vulnerability without user interaction.
    Affected if A user opens a malicious PDF file crafted to exploit this Use After Free vulnerability

The environment is affected if Adobe Acrobat Dc, Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc, Adobe Acrobat, or Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed with a version between 15.008.20082 and 23.006.20379 (DC) or between 20.001.30005 and 20.005.30538 (legacy), and a user opens 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 a version newer than 23.006.20360 (for modern branches) or 20.005.30524 (for legacy branches) to address the Use After Free vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

23.006.20380 (Continuous) or 20.005.30540 (Classic 2020)

  1. 1. Determine which Adobe Acrobat product and version is currently installed (Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader)
  2. 2. For Continuous track users: Upgrade to version 23.006.20380 or later
  3. 3. For Classic 2020 track users: Upgrade to version 20.005.30540 or later
  4. 4. Download the updated version from the official Adobe website or use the built-in update checker (Help > Check for Updates)
  5. 5. Install the update and restart the application
  6. 6. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds the fixed release
Caveat Users on very old release tracks may need to migrate to newer release tracks; ensure compatibility with existing workflows and plugins

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2023-44371 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