CVE-2024-41830: Adobe Acrobat Use After Free Vulnerability

CVE-2024-41830 Overview

CVE-2024-41830 is a Use After Free vulnerability [CWE-416] affecting Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Reader on Windows and macOS. Attackers can trigger the flaw by convincing a victim to open a crafted PDF file. Successful exploitation results in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user.

Adobe addressed the issue in security bulletin APSB24-57. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 and an EPSS probability of 4.55% (90.859 percentile), reflecting elevated exploitation likelihood.

Critical Impact
A single malicious PDF can achieve arbitrary code execution on the victim's endpoint, providing an initial access vector suitable for phishing and drive-by campaigns.

Affected Products

Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Reader (Classic track) versions 20.005.30636 and earlier, and 24.001.30123 and earlier
Adobe Acrobat DC and Acrobat Reader DC (Continuous track) versions 24.002.20965, 24.002.20964 and earlier
Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS installations of the above products

Discovery Timeline

2024-08-14 - CVE-2024-41830 published to NVD alongside Adobe advisory APSB24-57
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-41830

Vulnerability Analysis

The flaw is a Use After Free condition [CWE-416] in Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Reader. The application references heap memory after it has been freed, allowing an attacker to influence what data sits at that address when the dangling pointer is reused.

Exploitation requires local user interaction. A victim must open a malicious PDF delivered through email, web download, or a shared file store. When Acrobat parses the crafted content, the freed object is dereferenced and attacker-controlled data drives program flow.

Because the vulnerable code path runs inside the Acrobat process, code execution occurs at the privilege level of the current user. Adversaries typically pair this primitive with sandbox escapes or follow-on stagers to persist on the host.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper object lifetime management inside Acrobat's PDF parsing and rendering pipeline. A pointer to a heap-allocated object remains reachable after the object has been released, and the code fails to null or invalidate the reference. Adobe's advisory does not name the specific object type, but the Talos research report TALOS-2024-2009 documents the technical trigger.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is local with required user interaction (AV:L/UI:R). Attackers craft a PDF that shapes the heap and then triggers the free-and-reuse sequence during parsing. When Acrobat later dereferences the stale pointer, attacker-supplied content is treated as valid object data. Standard exploitation techniques for this class combine heap grooming, JavaScript-driven object churn inside Acrobat, and controlled reallocation to achieve arbitrary read/write and then code execution. See the Talos Vulnerability Report TALOS-2024-2009 for the specific trigger.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-41830

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected child processes spawned by AcroRd32.exe or Acrobat.exe, such as cmd.exe, powershell.exe, wscript.exe, or rundll32.exe
Acrobat processes making outbound network connections to non-Adobe infrastructure shortly after opening a PDF
Crash dumps or Windows Error Reporting entries referencing access violations in Acrobat modules
New files written to %APPDATA%, %TEMP%, or ~/Library/Application Support/ by an Acrobat process

Detection Strategies

Hunt for process lineage where Acrobat is the parent of interpreter or LOLBins, indicating post-exploitation activity
Alert on module loads of unsigned or non-Adobe DLLs inside Acrobat processes
Inspect PDFs at the mail gateway for embedded JavaScript and unusual object stream structures
Correlate endpoint crash telemetry with recent PDF opens from external senders

Monitoring Recommendations

Baseline Acrobat process behavior and monitor deviations in child process creation and network egress
Forward Acrobat process telemetry and PDF file metadata to a central data lake for retrospective hunting
Track installed Acrobat versions across the fleet and flag hosts running builds listed in APSB24-57

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-41830

Immediate Actions Required

Update Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Reader to the fixed builds listed in Adobe Security Advisory APSB24-57
Inventory endpoints for vulnerable Classic and Continuous track versions and prioritize workstations that handle external PDFs
Restrict opening of PDFs from untrusted sources through email gateway policies and browser download controls
Verify that Acrobat Protected Mode and Protected View are enabled for all users

Patch Information

Adobe released updated builds in bulletin APSB24-57 on August 13, 2024. Administrators should deploy Acrobat and Reader versions later than 20.005.30636 (Classic 2020), 24.001.30123 (Classic 2024), and 24.002.20965 (Continuous). Refer to the Adobe Security Advisory APSB24-57 for the exact fixed versions per track.

Workarounds

Enable Enhanced Security and Protected View in Acrobat Preferences to sandbox PDF rendering
Disable JavaScript execution in Acrobat via Preferences > JavaScript > Enable Acrobat JavaScript to reduce heap-grooming primitives
Route PDF previewing through a hardened viewer or browser-based renderer until patching completes
Apply application allowlisting to block child processes spawned by Acrobat

bash

# Configuration example: disable JavaScript in Acrobat via Windows registry
reg add "HKCU\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\DC\JSPrefs" /v bEnableJS /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
reg add "HKCU\Software\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\JSPrefs" /v bEnableJS /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f