Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-21610

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 0.025 84th percentile
Risk Priority 62 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-21610 is a high-severity Stack-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-121) 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 16% 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 a Stack-based Buffer Overflow vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Exploitation of this issue…

more

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

CWE(s)
CWE-121

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 →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-21604Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2026-47959Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2021-28560Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2023-21608Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2021-28550Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2023-26420Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2023-26418Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2023-26417Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2023-21605Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2023-26422Same 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)
  • 2 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

—

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-development practices directly prevent introduction of stack buffer overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning can discover stack buffer overflows but does not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching eliminates known instances of the weakness after discovery.

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 (fuzzing, static analysis) detects stack overflows before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates buffer-safety practices that directly prevent stack overflows.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify buffer-size and input-validation rules.

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

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety and least-privilege stack usage.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe buffer handling that causes CWE-121.

A.8.32 Change management none match
none

Change-management gates can enforce security reviews that catch buffer issues.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248594 OL 8 must implement address space layout randomization (ASLR) to protect its memory from unauthorized code execution. prevents CWE-121
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
  • V-271452 OL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-121

References