Security Resilience

CVE-2023-26421

Memory Safety in Adobe Acrobat 20.001.3005 – 20.005.30441

Memory Safety
Published
12 April 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 0.046 91th percentile
Risk Priority 63 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-26421 is a high-severity Wrap or Wraparound (CWE-191) vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique LSASS Memory (T1003.001); 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 23.001.20093 (and earlier) and 20.005.30441 (and earlier) are affected by an Integer Underflow or Wraparound vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Exploitation of this issue requires user…

more

interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.

CWE(s)
CWE-191

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1003.001 LSASS Memory Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credential material stored in the process memory of the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS).
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.003 NTDS Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access or create a copy of the Active Directory domain database in order to steal credential information, as well as obtain other information about domain members such as devices, users, and access rights.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.005 Cached Domain Credentials Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access cached domain credentials used to allow authentication to occur in the event a domain controller is unavailable.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.008 /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump the contents of <code>/etc/passwd</code> and <code>/etc/shadow</code> to enable offline password cracking.
attack.mitre.org →
T1005 Data from Local System Collection
Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.
attack.mitre.org →
T1008 Fallback Channels Command And Control
Adversaries may use fallback or alternate communication channels if the primary channel is compromised or inaccessible in order to maintain reliable command and control and to avoid data transfer thresholds.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-43550Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2025-43574Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2024-30302Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2024-20734Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2023-29303Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2023-44336Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2023-44359Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2024-30301Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2024-41831Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2021-28550Same product: Adobe Acrobat

Affected Assets

adobe
acrobat
20.001.3005 — 20.005.30441
adobe
acrobat dc
15.008.20082 — 23.001.20093
adobe
acrobat reader
20.001.3005 — 20.005.30441
adobe
acrobat reader dc
15.008.20082 — 23.001.20093

Mitigating Controls

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.

ID.RA-01 partial match
blocks

Vulnerability scanning and code analysis can surface underflow flaws after they are introduced.

PR.PS-02 partial match
blocks

Routine patching can remediate known underflow bugs once they are discovered in deployed software.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent integer underflow defects via input validation, bounds checking, and static analysis.

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.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.8.10 Information deletion partial match
removes

References