CVE-2023-38228
Published: 10 August 2023
Summary
CVE-2023-38228 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 20.005.30467 and earlier contain a Use After Free vulnerability tracked as CWE-416. The flaw can permit arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user when triggered.
Exploitation requires an attacker to supply a malicious file that the victim must open, corresponding to a CVSS 3.1 score of 7.8 with an attack vector of local access, low complexity, and required user interaction.
Adobe published remediation details in advisory APSB23-30 at https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/acrobat/apsb23-30.html.
The associated EPSS score rose from lower values to a peak of 0.3023 on 2025-01-22 before receding to the current 0.0866, indicating a period of increased exploitation interest after disclosure.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-42048
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)
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.