Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-21579

Memory Safety in Adobe Acrobat Dc 15.008.20082 – 22.003.20282

Memory Safety
Published
18 January 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.049 91th percentile
Risk Priority 63 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-21579 is a high-severity Integer Overflow or Wraparound (CWE-190) vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Dc. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 9% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Adobe Acrobat Reader versions 22.003.20282 (and earlier), 22.003.20281 (and earlier) and 20.005.30418 (and earlier) are affected by an Integer Overflow or Wraparound vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Exploitation of this…

more

issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.

CWE(s)
CWE-190

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-20730Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2026-47925Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2021-28560Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2024-20733Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2023-44361Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2024-34100Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2024-34095Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2024-30305Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2023-44371Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2023-44367Same product: Adobe Acrobat

Affected Assets

adobe
acrobat dc
15.008.20082 — 22.003.20282 · 15.008.20082 — 22.003.20281
adobe
acrobat reader dc
15.008.20082 — 22.003.20282 · 15.008.20082 — 22.003.20281
adobe
acrobat
20.001.30005 — 20.005.30418
adobe
acrobat reader
20.001.30005 — 20.005.30418

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.2.6

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require use of safe arithmetic, bounds checks, and testing that prevent integer overflows.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development can detect integer overflows before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates input validation and arithmetic checks that prevent integer overflows.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
degrades

Application security requirements include bounds checking and safe arithmetic to avoid overflow conditions.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
degrades

Secure architecture principles require defensive coding patterns that mitigate integer wraparound risks.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe integer operations and mandate overflow-safe constructs.

References