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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-44372

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 (2023 release) and 20.005.30524 and earlier (2020 release). The flaw allows arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user when a victim opens a specially crafted malicious PDF file.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest version available from Adobe's official channels. Users should avoid opening untrusted or unexpected PDF files from unknown sources as exploitation requires user interaction.

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 if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    On Windows, open Control Panel > Programs and Features and look for 'Adobe Acrobat' or 'Adobe Acrobat Reader'. On macOS, check /Applications for Adobe Acrobat Reader.app or Adobe Acrobat.app.
    Affected if The application is not listed in installed programs, meaning the product is not present.
  2. Determine the installed version on Windows
    Open the application, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat). The version number will be displayed in the dialog. Alternatively, check the Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\[Version] for InstallVersion.
    Affected if The version cannot be determined or the application is not found.
  3. Compare your version against the affected ranges
    If you have a 2023 version (starting with 23.x), you are affected if the version is 23.006.20360 or earlier, or less than 23.006.20380. For 2020 versions (starting with 20.x), you are affected if the version is 20.005.30524 or earlier, or up to 20.005.30539. Versions 15.008.20082 through these limits are also affected.
    Affected if Your installed version falls within 15.008.20082 to 23.006.20379 (2023 release) or 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30538 (2020 release).
  4. Verify the product type
    Confirm whether you have Adobe Acrobat (full) or Adobe Acrobat Reader only, as both are affected. Reader is the free version typically named 'Adobe Acrobat Reader DC'.
    Affected if The installed product matches either Adobe Acrobat Dc, Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc, Adobe Acrobat, or Adobe Acrobat Reader.

If the installed Adobe Acrobat or Reader version falls within the affected ranges (15.008.20082 to 23.006.20379 for 2023 release, or 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30538 for 2020 release) and the user opens a specially crafted malicious PDF, arbitrary code execution is possible.

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 the latest version available from Adobe's official channels. Users should avoid opening untrusted or unexpected PDF files from unknown sources as exploitation requires user interaction.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat/Acrobat Reader 23.006.20380 (or 20.005.30540+ for the 20.x branch)

  1. 1. Open Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader on your system
  2. 2. Navigate to Help > Check for Updates (or use the Help menu in your specific version)
  3. 3. Allow the application to check for available updates
  4. 4. If updates are available, review the update details and confirm the update to version 23.006.20380 or later (for 23.x branch) or 20.005.30540 or later (for 20.x branch)
  5. 5. Restart the application after the update completes
  6. 6. Verify the installed version by going to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader/Acrobat to confirm the version number
Caveat Standard minor version updates typically have no breaking changes; however, always test critical PDF workflows after updating

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
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
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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-2023-44372 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