# CVE-2021-40724: Adobe Acrobat Reader Android Abritrary Code Execution Vulnerability

> An attacker can achieve arbitrary code execution by tricking a user into opening a malicious file in Adobe Acrobat Reader for Android.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 15 Oct 2021
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-29r2-9wmj-m244

## What is CVE-2021-40724?

CVE-2021-40724 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader, published on 15 Oct 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Acrobat Reader for Android versions 21.8.0 (and earlier) are affected by a Path traversal vulnerability. An unauthenticated attacker could leverage this vulnerability to achieve 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.

Weakness: CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-40724?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Adobe Acrobat Reader.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-40724?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-40724 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-40724 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-40724 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- This is an Exploit App I made when solving the DocumentViewer challenge (CVE-2021-40724) from MobileHackingLab. It will download a libdocviewe_pro.so library from your local machine unto the vulnerable app's internal storage, load it upon relaunch and achieve an RCE. (github_poc): https://github.com/tinopreter/DocViewerExploitApp

## Other vulnerabilities in Adobe Acrobat Reader

- [CVE-2009-0927](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-0927/): Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat Stack-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2014-0511](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-0511/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2014-0512](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-0512/): Security feature bypass in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2004-1152](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-1152/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2004-1153](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-1153/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-40724 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-40724 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader, published on 15 Oct 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-40724 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Adobe Acrobat Reader. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-40724/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-40724/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-40724
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-40724
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-40724

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-40724/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.