dbcve.org
Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2026-27220

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 24.001.30356 / 25.001.21288 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 24.001.30307, 24.001.30308, 25.001.21265 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 in versions 24.001.30307, 24.001.30308, 25.001.21265 and earlier. The vulnerability allows arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user when a victim opens a maliciously crafted PDF file, due to improper memory management where memory is accessed after being freed.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest version and ensure users are trained to 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
Acrobat DcApplication
Affected:< 25.001.21288
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:< 25.001.21288
AcrobatApplication
Affected:>= 24.001.20604, < 24.001.30356

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 Adobe Acrobat product variant
    Check if Adobe Acrobat Reader DC or Adobe Acrobat (classic) is installed by looking in Program Files (Windows) or Applications (Mac) for folders named 'Adobe Acrobat DC' or 'Adobe Acrobat [version]'. You can also check Add/Remove Programs or the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe for the product name.
    Affected if Either Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat (classic) variant is present
  2. Retrieve installed version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
    Open the application, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, or right-click the application in Programs list and select Properties. The version number appears in the format like 25.001.xxxxx.
    Affected if Version is < 25.001.21288 for Reader DC
  3. Retrieve installed version of Adobe Acrobat (classic)
    Open the application, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat, or check the executable properties. The version number appears in the format like 24.xxx.xxxxx.
    Affected if Version is >= 24.001.20604 and < 24.001.30356 for classic Acrobat
  4. Confirm vulnerability trigger condition
    This vulnerability is triggered when a user opens a maliciously crafted PDF file. The vulnerability exists in the PDF parsing/rendering component of the application.
    Affected if Any PDF file can trigger this flaw when opened in a vulnerable version, regardless of specific settings

You are affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader DC or Adobe Acrobat (classic) is installed and the version falls below 25.001.21288 for DC variants, or between 24.001.20604 and 24.001.30356 for classic versions.

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 24.001.30356 / 25.001.21288 or later
Fixed in 24.001.3035625.001.21288
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest version and ensure users are trained to avoid opening untrusted or unexpected PDF files from unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Acrobat Reader DC/Acrobat DC version 25.001.21288 or later (or 24.001.30356 or later for the 24.x branch)

  1. 1. Close all instances of Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader
  2. 2. Back up any important documents currently open in Adobe products
  3. 3. Navigate to the Adobe Acrobat download page at https://get.adobe.com/reader/ or https://get.adobe.com/reader/enterprise/
  4. 4. Download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (25.001.21288 or later)
  5. 5. Run the downloaded installer with administrator privileges
  6. 6. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation
  7. 7. Restart your computer after installation completes
  8. 8. Verify the installed version by opening Adobe Acrobat Reader, going to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader, and confirming the version is 25.001.21288 or later
Caveat Adobe patches typically do not introduce breaking changes; however, some older plugins or extensions may need updating for compatibility with newer versions

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

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
19.0 hours of engineering $3,380
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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-2026-27220 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