CVE-2024-41833
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 · uneditedAcrobat Reader versions 20.005.30636, 24.002.20965, 24.002.20964, 24.001.30123 and earlier are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to bypass mitigations such as ASLR. 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 confidenceAdobe Acrobat Reader contains an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that allows disclosure of sensitive memory contents. An attacker could exploit this by crafting a malicious PDF file that, when opened by a victim, leaks memory addresses. This information disclosure can be leveraged to bypass ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) as a secondary attack vector.
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>= 20.001.30005, < 20.005.30655>= 24.001.20604, < 24.001.30159>= 15.008.20082, < 24.002.21005>= 20.001.3005, < 20.005.30655>= 15.008.20082, < 24.002.21005CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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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Verify Adobe Acrobat Reader installationOpen Adobe Acrobat Reader and navigate to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader, or check the installed programs list in Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like "*Adobe*Reader*"}' in PowerShellAffected if Adobe Acrobat Reader is not installed or no version is detected, the system is not affected by this specific vulnerability
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Identify the exact installed versionLocate the version number from the About dialog or registry entry as described above. Record the full version string (for example: 20.001.3005 or 24.001.20604)Affected if The exact version cannot be determined, proceed to the next check with available information
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Compare against affected version rangesCompare your installed version against: Acrobat Reader 20.001.3005 through 20.005.30654 (first range); Acrobat Reader 15.008.20082 through 24.002.21004 (second range for Reader Dc). Versions 20.005.30655 and above, and 24.002.21005 and above are patched.Affected if Your installed version falls within any of the affected ranges (any version >= 20.001.30005 but < 20.005.30655, OR >= 20.001.3005 but < 20.005.30655 for non-DC, OR >= 15.008.20082 but < 24.002.21005 for DC variants)
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Confirm the vulnerability trigger conditionThis vulnerability is triggered when a user opens a specially crafted malicious PDF file. There is no specific feature, configuration, or module that must be enabled - the flaw exists in the PDF parsing engine.Affected if The vulnerable PDF parsing functionality is always active when Adobe Acrobat Reader processes PDF documents; exploitation requires a user to open a malicious PDF file
You are affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader or Acrobat Reader DC is installed with a version number that falls within the affected ranges: 20.001.3005 through 20.005.30654, or 15.008.20082 through 24.002.21004 for DC variants.
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 · scoped20.005.3065524.001.3015924.002.21005
Update Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest patched version. Additionally, enforce user awareness training to prevent opening untrusted PDF files from unknown sources, as exploitation requires user interaction.
Acrobat: 20.005.30655 or later / 24.001.30159 or later; Acrobat DC: 24.002.21005 or later; Acrobat Reader: 20.005.30655 or later / 24.001.30159 or later; Acrobat Reader DC: 24.002.21005 or later
- 1. Identify the installed Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader version by opening the application and navigating to Help > About (or Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader).
- 2. Determine the product variant (Acrobat Standard, Acrobat Pro, Acrobat Reader, or the 'Dc' variants) to select the correct update.
- 3. Navigate to the official Adobe support page at helpx.adobe.com to download the latest version corresponding to your product line.
- 4. For Acrobat/Acrobat Reader versions 20.x: upgrade to version 20.005.30655 or later.
- 5. For Acrobat/Acrobat Reader versions 24.x: upgrade to version 24.001.30159 or later (or 24.002.21005 or later for DC variants).
- 6. Download and install the selected update, following the on-screen prompts.
- 7. Restart the application after installation completes.
- 8. Verify the new version by checking Help > About to confirm the installation was successful.
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-2024-41833 — 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-2024-41833 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