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CVE-2023-21608VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2023-21608: Adobe Acrobat Reader · Use After Free

Affects Adobe Acrobat ReaderSource CVE Database V5

0

Exploited in the wild · KEV due 31 Oct 2023 · 59% EPSS : apply the vendor's fix or mitigations to Adobe Acrobat Reader now.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
7.8High
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
KEV deadline
 US federal agencies must patch by this date; a sensible deadline for everyone else.
EPSS
59.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 99% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploitation evidence

t = 0 is the CVE’s publication on cve.org

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 18 Jan 2023

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: evidence found.

    Listed in CISA KEV 265 days after disclosure

  5. Observed by OffSeq Mirage: no evidence on record.

    No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

Timeline

  1. CVE ID reserved

    by adobe

    , 48 days before disclosure

  2. CVE published

    on cve.org

    , t = 0

  3. , 265 days after disclosure

  4. KEV remediation due

    US federal deadline

    , 286 days after disclosure

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), CISA KEV (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

What to do

Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
Adobe Acrobat ReaderAffected
  • <=22.003.20282
  • <=22.003.20281
  • <=20.005.30418
Fixed in–

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.

References

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