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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2025-43576

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-06-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 20.005.30774 / 24.001.30254 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 24.001.30235, 20.005.30763, 25.001.20521 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

Adobe Acrobat Reader contains a Use After Free vulnerability where memory is accessed after it has been freed, allowing an attacker to manipulate memory and achieve arbitrary code execution. Successful exploitation requires a user to open a specially crafted malicious PDF file, and the code executes with the privileges of the current user.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version newer than 24.001.30235, 20.005.30763, or 25.001.20521. Until patched, advise users not to open untrusted 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
Acrobat DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.008.20082, < 25.001.20531>= 15.008.20082, < 25.001.20529
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.008.20082, < 25.001.20531>= 15.008.20082, < 25.001.20529
AcrobatApplication
Affected:>= 20.001.30002, < 20.005.30774>= 24.0.0, < 24.001.30254
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:>= 20.001.30002, < 20.005.30774

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 or Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or Reader) to view the exact version number. On Windows, you can also check the version from the application executable by right-clicking the acrobat.exe or acrord32.exe file and selecting Properties > Details.
    Affected if The product is Adobe Acrobat Dc, Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc, Adobe Acrobat, or Adobe Acrobat Reader
  2. Compare version against affected ranges
    Document the full version number displayed (for example, 24.001.30253). Compare this version to the affected ranges: Acrobat Dc/Reader Dc versions 15.008.20082 through 25.001.20530 (or 25.001.20528 depending on the branch); Acrobat versions 20.001.30002 through 20.005.30773 and 24.0.0 through 24.001.30253; Acrobat Reader versions 20.001.30002 through 20.005.30773.
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: 15.008.20082 to 25.001.20530, 15.008.20082 to 25.001.20528, 20.001.30002 to 20.005.30773, 24.0.0 to 24.001.30253, or 24.001.30254
  3. Verify PDF handling exposure
    Confirm whether the system routinely opens PDF files from external or untrusted sources. The vulnerability is triggered only when a user opens a specially crafted malicious PDF file.
    Affected if Users on the system open PDF files from unknown or untrusted sources, as exploitation requires user interaction to open a malicious PDF

The system is affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed with a version matching the affected ranges AND users may open PDF files from untrusted sources.

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 20.005.30774 / 24.001.30254 / 25.001.20529 or later
Fixed in 20.005.3077424.001.3025425.001.20529
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version newer than 24.001.30235, 20.005.30763, or 25.001.20521. Until patched, advise users not to open untrusted PDF files from unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Acrobat/Acrobat Reader: 24.001.30254+ (24.x line), 20.005.30774+ (20.x line), 25.001.20531+ (25.x line)

  1. 1. Identify the currently installed Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader version by navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader
  2. 2. Based on the installed version line, determine the minimum fixed version needed: for version 24.x use 24.001.30254 or later, for version 20.x use 20.005.30774 or later, for version 25.x use 25.001.20531 or later
  3. 3. Close all Adobe applications
  4. 4. Download the appropriate fixed version from the official Adobe download page (get.adobe.com/reader for Reader or get.adobe.com/acrobat for Acrobat)
  5. 5. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the upgrade
  6. 6. Restart the system after installation completes
  7. 7. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds the fixed version for your product line
Caveat Standard Adobe update - minimal risk; ensure backups of critical PDFs before major version upgrades

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

Free · runs locally
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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-2025-43576 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