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AcrobatApplication · Adobe

CVE-2024-20765

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-02-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 20.005.30574 / 23.008.20533 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
Acrobat Reader versions 20.005.30539, 23.008.20470 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 in Adobe Acrobat Reader allows arbitrary code execution when a user opens a specially crafted malicious PDF file. The vulnerability stems from improper memory management where memory is freed but a dangling pointer still references it, potentially allowing an attacker to control memory layout and execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest patched version (20.006.30560 or 23.006.31214 and later). Avoid opening untrusted or unexpected 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
AcrobatApplication
Affected:>= 20.001.3005, < 20.005.30574
Acrobat DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.007.20033, < 23.008.20533
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:>= 20.001.3005, < 20.005.30574
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.007.20033, < 23.008.20533

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
    Open Adobe Acrobat Reader or Acrobat, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or Acrobat). The product name and version will be displayed in the dialog that opens.
    Affected if The installed product is Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat, either classic or DC variant.
  2. Note the exact version number
    Record the full version number shown in the About dialog (for example: 20.001.3005 or 15.007.20033).
    Affected if The version number is visible and can be compared against known vulnerable ranges.
  3. Determine product variant
    Check whether the product is the Classic version or the DC (Document Cloud) variant. This is typically visible in the application title bar or About dialog.
    Affected if The product is either Acrobat/Reader or Acrobat/Reader DC - both variants have separate version ranges.
  4. Compare against vulnerable version ranges
    For Classic versions: compare your version to >= 20.001.3005 and < 20.005.30574. For DC versions: compare your version to >= 15.007.20033 and < 23.008.20533.
    Affected if Your installed version falls within either of these ranges: 20.001.3005 through 20.005.30574 (Classic), or 15.007.20033 through 23.008.20533 (DC).

You are affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader or Acrobat (Classic or DC) is installed with a version number that falls within the vulnerable ranges specified for your product variant.

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 20.005.30574 / 23.008.20533 or later
Fixed in 20.005.3057423.008.20533
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest patched version (20.006.30560 or 23.006.31214 and later). Avoid opening untrusted or unexpected PDF files from unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Acrobat/Reader Continuous: 20.005.30574+ | Acrobat/Reader Classic (2023): 23.008.20533+

  1. Identify which Adobe Acrobat/Reader product line you are using (Continuous vs Classic)
  2. For Continuous track users ( Acrobat 20.x / Acrobat Reader 20.x): Upgrade to version 20.005.30574 or later
  3. For Classic track users (Acrobat 15.x-23.x / Acrobat Reader 15.x-23.x): Upgrade to version 23.008.20533 or later
  4. Verify the installed version by opening Adobe Acrobat/Reader and navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader
  5. Download the latest version from the official Adobe website or use your organization's patch management system
  6. Restart the application after the update is installed
  7. Ensure automatic updates are enabled for future security patches
Caveat Standard minor version upgrade; should retain user settings and preferences

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

Fix this in Acrobat 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
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

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-2024-20765 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