Executive brief
Adobe Acrobat Reader, a widely used document viewing application, contains a use-after-free memory vulnerability that could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code with the same privileges as the logged-in user. An attacker would need to trick a user into opening a malicious PDF file to exploit this flaw, potentially leading to data theft, system compromise, or malware installation.
Technical details
The vulnerability is a use-after-free (CWE-416) memory corruption flaw in Acrobat Reader's PDF parsing logic. The defect allows an attacker to craft a malicious PDF file that triggers access to freed memory during processing, leading to memory corruption and potential arbitrary code execution in the context of the user running the application. Exploitation requires user interaction—specifically, opening a hostile PDF file—and does not require elevated privileges or network access. There is currently no known active exploitation in the wild. Patches from Adobe are expected via their APSB26-141 security advisory.
Affected products
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
Timeline
- 2026-09-08: disclosed