Skip to content
Noroxi
CVE-2024-20765· NVD / CVE Program· CNA adobe

ZDI-CAN-22674: Adobe Acrobat Reader DC PDF File Parsing Use-After-Free Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Acrobat Reader versions 20.005.30539, 23.008.20470 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.

HighCVSS 7.8 · v3.1—No exploit No fix recorded

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

We don't hand-write analysis for the hundreds of thousands of vulnerabilities in the database; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.

We use this product, ask for help
Published
Feb 29, 2024
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
0.6% · 45th percentile
Follow this CVE

Sign in to follow · You’ll be notified if a followed record enters KEV, gets an exploit or is updated.

Report tools

JSON

Action score

31

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
31 / 40 · 7.8 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.6%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · adobe
7.8
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Affected systems

VendorProduct
adobeacrobat
adobeacrobat dc
adobeacrobat reader
adobeacrobat reader dc
applemacos
microsoftwindows

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • adobe acrobat20.001.3005 and later · before 20.005.30574
  • adobe acrobat dc15.007.20033 and later · before 23.008.20533
  • adobe acrobat reader20.001.3005 and later · before 20.005.30574
  • adobe acrobat reader dc15.007.20033 and later · before 23.008.20533

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (adobe). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Adobe Acrobat Reader

    • up to and including 23.008.20470affected · semver

Same product

adobe: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2011-2462Unspecified vulnerability in the U3D component in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 10.1.1 and earlier on Windows and Mac OS X, and Adobe Reader 9.x KEV
    96Now
  • CVE-2013-3346Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x before 9.5.5, 10.x before 10.1.7, and 11.x before 11.0.03 allow attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a KEV
    93Now
  • CVE-2021-21017Acrobat Reader DC Heap-based Buffer Overflow Vulnerability Could Lead To Arbitrary Code ExecutionKEV
    91Now
  • CVE-2009-3459Heap-based buffer overflow in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 7.x before 7.1.4, 8.x before 8.1.7, and 9.x before 9.2 allows remote attackers to exeKEV
    91Now
  • CVE-2008-2992Stack-based buffer overflow in Adobe Acrobat and Reader 8.1.2 and earlier allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a PDF file tKEV
    91Now
  • CVE-2009-3953The U3D implementation in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x before 9.3, 8.x before 8.2 on Windows and Mac OS X, and 7.x before 7.1.4 allows remotKEV
    90Now

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

  • CVE-2024-39383167 days apartPoC sample of unknown vulnerability detected by EXPMON system
    32Monitor
  • CVE-2024-39422167 days apartZDI-CAN-24090: New Vulnerability Report - Use-after-free remote code execution vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
    32Monitor
  • CVE-2024-39424167 days apartZDI-CAN-24309: Adobe Acrobat Reader DC Annotation Use-After-Free Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
    32Monitor
  • CVE-2024-41830167 days apartTalos Security Advisory for Adobe (TALOS-2024-2009)
    32Monitor
  • CVE-2024-41831167 days apartZDI-CAN-24569: Adobe Acrobat Reader DC AcroForm Use-After-Free Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
    32Monitor
  • CVE-2024-41869197 days apartAcrobat Reader | Use After Free (CWE-416)
    32Monitor

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

The product’s vendor appears in a public program. Matched by name; verify the scope text in the program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • A user must open a link or visit a page.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-416 · Use After Free

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-secondary

Root cause

After a memory region is freed, another reference pointing to it is still used. By then, the same region may have been allocated for different data.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-416 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

c
free(dev->buf);/* ... another thread is still running ... */process(dev->buf);

Fixed

c
lock(&dev->lock);free(dev->buf);dev->buf = NULL;unlock(&dev->lock);

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

Change log

No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records