CVE-2023-21608 Adobe Acrobat and Reader Use-After-Free

What is CVE-2023-21608?

CVE-2023-21608 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat, published on 18 Jan 2023. 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

Adobe Acrobat Reader versions 22.003.20282 (and earlier), 22.003.20281 (and earlier) and 20.005.30418 (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.

Weakness: CWE-416

Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-21608?

It affects 4 products.

Products include Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Acrobat Dc, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc.

How do I fix CVE-2023-21608?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-21608 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available. US federal agencies must fix it by 31 Oct 2023.

Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.

Is CVE-2023-21608 being exploited?

Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2023-21608 in the wild since at least 10 Oct 2023.

Public exploit code: 2 proofs of concept on GitHub.

Other vulnerabilities in Adobe Acrobat

• CVE-2021-28550 Adobe Acrobat and Reader Use-After-Free Exploited Critical 9.6
• CVE-2021-21017 Adobe Acrobat and Reader Heap-based Buffer Overflow Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2014-0546 Adobe Reader and Acrobat Sandbox Bypass Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2014-0496 Adobe Reader and Acrobat Use-After-Free Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2013-3346 Adobe Reader and Acrobat Memory Corruption Exploited High 8.8

All Adobe Acrobat vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as GHSA-w7q6-mhgp-7c2h.