Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-38224

High

Published: 10 August 2023

Published
10 August 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
KEV Added
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Patch
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CVSS Score v3.1 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0851 92.6th percentile
Risk Priority 21 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2023-38224 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Apple Macos. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, ranked in the top 7.4% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Deeper analysis

Adobe Acrobat Reader versions 23.003.20244 and earlier, along with versions 20.005.30467 and earlier, contain a Use After Free vulnerability tracked as CVE-2023-38224 and CWE-416. The flaw can lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user when triggered.

An attacker can exploit the issue by supplying a malicious file that the victim must open, leveraging local attack vector conditions with no privileges required. Successful exploitation grants full confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact on the affected system.

Adobe's advisory APSB23-30 addresses the vulnerability and directs users to apply the vendor-supplied updates for the impacted Acrobat Reader releases.

The associated EPSS score rose from a low baseline to a peak of 0.3023 on 2025-01-22 before receding to the current value of 0.0851, indicating that exploitation interest surfaced after public disclosure.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

Adobe Acrobat Reader versions 23.003.20244 (and earlier) and 20.005.30467 (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)
CWE-416

Related Threats

No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.

Affected Assets

adobe
acrobat dc
15.008.20082 — 23.003.20269
adobe
acrobat reader dc
15.008.20082 — 23.003.20269
adobe
acrobat
20.001.30005 — 20.005.30516.10516 · 20.001.30005 — 20.005.30514.10514
adobe
acrobat reader
20.001.30005 — 20.005.30516.10516 · 20.001.30005 — 20.005.30514.10514

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.

SI-16 Memory Protection
addresses: CWE-416

Use-after-free exploits that achieve arbitrary code execution are blocked or significantly hardened by non-executable pages and ASLR.

References