CVE-2023-26424
Published: 12 April 2023
Summary
CVE-2023-26424 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).
Operationally, ranked at the 46.8th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis
Adobe Acrobat Reader versions 23.001.20093 and earlier, along with versions 20.005.30441 and earlier, contain a Use After Free vulnerability tracked as CVE-2023-26424. The flaw is classified under CWE-416 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 7.8, reflecting local attack vector, low attack complexity, no required privileges, and required user interaction, with high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
An attacker can exploit the issue by supplying a malicious file that a victim must open, resulting in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. No other preconditions such as elevated privileges are needed beyond the file-opening action.
The referenced Adobe security advisory APSB23-24 describes the affected releases and provides remediation guidance through updated builds that address the vulnerability.
EPSS for this CVE rose from a low baseline to a peak of 0.0735 on 2025-01-22 before receding to the current value of 0.0024, indicating a period of increased exploitation interest after public disclosure.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-30244
Vulnerability details
Adobe Acrobat Reader versions 23.001.20093 (and earlier) and 20.005.30441 (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…
more
in that a victim must open a malicious file.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Use-after-free exploits that achieve arbitrary code execution are blocked or significantly hardened by non-executable pages and ASLR.