CVE-2026-27278
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 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 confidenceAdobe Acrobat Reader contains a Use After Free vulnerability that allows arbitrary code execution when a victim opens a specially crafted malicious PDF file. The vulnerability exploits memory that is accessed after being freed, potentially enabling the attacker to execute code in the context of the current user.
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< 25.001.21288< 25.001.21288>= 24.001.20604, < 24.001.30356CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Adobe Acrobat installationCheck if Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc or Adobe Acrobat Dc is installed on the system by looking in Program Files (Windows) or Applications folder (macOS), or by searching for 'Acrobat' in the systemAffected if Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc or Adobe Acrobat Dc is found on the system
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Determine installed version on WindowsOpen Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat DC\InstallProperties (or similar path depending on product), then locate the 'Version' value to see the installed version numberAffected if The Version value is less than 25.001.21288 for Acrobat/Reader Dc, or between 24.001.20604 and 24.001.30356 for Adobe Acrobat
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Determine installed version via applicationOpen Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or Adobe Acrobat) to display the version numberAffected if The displayed version matches the affected ranges: less than 25.001.21288 for Reader Dc/Acrobat Dc, or 24.001.20604 through 24.001.30356 for Adobe Acrobat
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Check version via command line (Windows)Run 'wmic product where "name like 'Adobe Acrobat%'" get name,version' or use PowerShell 'Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "*Adobe*"} | Select-Object Name,Version' to list installed Adobe products and versionsAffected if The listed Adobe product version falls within the affected ranges
A user is affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc or Adobe Acrobat Dc is installed with a version lower than 25.001.21288, or if Adobe Acrobat is installed with version 24.001.20604 through 24.001.30356.
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 · scoped24.001.3035625.001.21288
Update Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version newer than 25.001.21265 (or the latest available version), and exercise caution when opening PDF files from untrusted sources.
Acrobat/Reader 24.001.30356 or later (24.x branch); Acrobat/Reader 25.001.21288 or later (25.x branch)
- 1. Open Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader application
- 2. Navigate to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat) to check current version
- 3. For version 24.x: Upgrade to version 24.001.30356 or later
- 4. For version 25.x: Upgrade to version 25.001.21288 or later
- 5. Download the appropriate fixed version from the official Adobe website (helpx.adobe.com)
- 6. Close all Adobe applications
- 7. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the update
- 8. After installation, verify the version by checking About section again
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 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-2026-27278 — 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-2026-27278 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