Free AI Safety Workshop — in collaboration with explainx.aiSave your seat
AgentbeamBeta
Known exploited vulnerability · Adobe

CVE-2021-21017: Adobe Acrobat and Reader Heap-based Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

highCVSS 3.1 8.8Exploited

Acrobat Reader DC versions versions 2020.013.20074 (and earlier), 2020.001.30018 (and earlier) and 2017.011.30188 (and earlier) are affected by a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability. An unauthenticated attacker could leverage this vulnerability to achieve arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.

Published Feb 11, 2021 · Updated Jun 17, 2026

Required action

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Advisory details

From the National Vulnerability Database. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.

Acrobat Reader DC versions versions 2020.013.20074 (and earlier), 2020.001.30018 (and earlier) and 2017.011.30188 (and earlier) are affected by a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability. An unauthenticated attacker could leverage this vulnerability to achieve arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.

References

How this page is made: the data panel comes from the GitHub Advisory Database, CISA’s KEV catalog, the NVD and FIRST EPSS, and updates twice a day. No analysis has been written for this entry yet. Methodology

More Adobe vulnerabilities

All Adobe entries