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Mallory
Critical

Use-After-Free in Adobe Acrobat and Reader (CVE-2019-16452)

IdentifiersCVE-2019-16452CWE-416· Use After Free

CVE-2019-16452 is a use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader, affecting versions 2019.021.20056 and earlier, 2017.011.30152 and earlier, and 2015.006.30505 and earlier on both Windows and macOS. The vulnerability arises from improper management of memory objects, allowing an attacker to trigger a use-after-free condition. Successful exploitation can result in arbitrary code execution within the context of the current user.

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For your environment

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Exploitation of this vulnerability allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running Adobe Acrobat or Reader. This can lead to full compromise of the affected system, including installation of malware, data theft, or further lateral movement within a network.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

If immediate patching is not possible, restrict opening of PDF files from untrusted sources, disable JavaScript in Adobe Reader/Acrobat, and consider using application whitelisting or sandboxing to limit the impact of exploitation. Monitor for suspicious activity related to PDF processing.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade to the latest versions of Adobe Acrobat and Reader: 2019.021.20058 (DC), 2017.011.30156 (2017), or 2015.006.30508 (2015). Adobe has released patches addressing this vulnerability. Users and administrators should ensure all endpoints are updated promptly.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType
AdobeAcrobat Dcapplication
AdobeAcrobat Reader Dcapplication

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

This page is what’s public. Mallory adds the parts that aren’t: which of your assets are affected, which adversaries are exploiting it right now, which detections to deploy, and what to do tonight.
Exposure mapping

Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.

Threat actor evidence

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.