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Use-After-Free in Adobe Acrobat and Reader (CVE-2019-8039)

IdentifiersCVE-2019-8039CWE-416· Use After Free

CVE-2019-8039 is a use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader affecting versions 2019.012.20035 and earlier, 2017.011.30142 and earlier, and 2015.006.30497 and earlier. The vulnerability arises from improper management of memory objects, allowing an attacker to trigger a use-after-free condition. This can be exploited by convincing a user to open a specially crafted PDF file, leading to the reuse of freed memory and potential execution of attacker-controlled code.

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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.

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context 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 use endpoint security solutions to detect and block exploitation attempts. Limit user privileges to reduce the impact of potential exploitation.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Acrobat and Reader as provided by Adobe. Adobe has released security updates that address this vulnerability in supported product versions.
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.