CVE-2026-47924: Acrobat Reader Use After Free Vulnerability

CVE-2026-47924 Overview

CVE-2026-47924 is a Use After Free vulnerability [CWE-416] in Adobe Acrobat Reader. The flaw affects Acrobat Reader versions 24.001.30365, 26.001.21651, and earlier. Exploitation can lead to disclosure of sensitive memory contents from the host process. An attacker must craft a malicious PDF file and convince a victim to open it. The vulnerability requires local user interaction and does not affect file integrity or availability. Adobe documented the issue in security advisory APSB26-63. The disclosed memory may contain pointers, heap contents, or other process data useful for follow-on exploitation.

Critical Impact
Successful exploitation discloses sensitive process memory, providing attackers with information that can support memory layout reconnaissance and additional exploitation chains.

Affected Products

Adobe Acrobat Reader 24.001.30365
Adobe Acrobat Reader 26.001.21651
Adobe Acrobat Reader versions earlier than the above

Discovery Timeline

2026-06-09 - CVE-2026-47924 published to the National Vulnerability Database
2026-06-10 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-47924

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is a Use After Free condition [CWE-416] in the Acrobat Reader PDF parsing or rendering pipeline. A Use After Free occurs when a program continues to reference memory after that memory has been released back to the allocator. When the freed region is later reused for other data, dereferencing the stale pointer reads or writes attacker-influenced contents.

In this case, the dangling reference yields a read of memory the application no longer owns. The leaked bytes are returned to attacker-controlled logic embedded in the malicious document, enabling sensitive information disclosure. The integrity and availability of the host are not directly affected, but disclosed pointers can defeat Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) and support chained exploits.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper object lifetime management within Acrobat Reader. An internal object is freed while another code path retains and later uses a reference to that memory. The Adobe advisory APSB26-63 does not enumerate the specific object class, but the CWE-416 classification confirms a lifetime tracking defect.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires local access through user interaction. The victim must open a malicious PDF file delivered by email, web download, or shared storage. Once the document is parsed, the crafted structures trigger the dangling reference and exfiltrate memory contents through scripting or document features available within the renderer.

No verified public proof-of-concept code is available. See the Adobe Security Advisory APSB26-63 for vendor technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-47924

Indicators of Compromise

PDF documents arriving from untrusted senders that trigger AcroRd32.exe or Acrobat.exe to crash or generate Windows Error Reporting events.
Unexpected child processes spawned by Acrobat Reader after opening an attachment.
Outbound network connections initiated by Acrobat Reader following document open events.

Detection Strategies

Hunt for Acrobat Reader process crashes correlated with recently opened PDF files in user download or temporary directories.
Inspect PDF samples in a sandbox for malformed object streams, suspicious JavaScript, or unusual cross-reference tables.
Monitor for endpoint telemetry showing memory access violations within Acrobat Reader modules.

Monitoring Recommendations

Log all PDF open events with file hashes and originating mail or URL source for retrospective analysis.
Alert on Acrobat Reader processes performing unusual file system reads outside the document directory.
Forward Windows Error Reporting and application crash dumps from endpoints running Acrobat Reader to a central analytics platform.

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-47924

Immediate Actions Required

Update Acrobat Reader to the fixed version identified in Adobe advisory APSB26-63 across all endpoints.
Inventory installed Acrobat Reader versions and prioritize hosts running 24.001.30365, 26.001.21651, or earlier builds.
Restrict opening of PDF attachments from external senders until patching is complete.

Patch Information

Adobe published remediation guidance in Adobe Security Advisory APSB26-63. Apply the vendor-supplied update through Adobe's automatic update channel or enterprise deployment tooling. Reboot affected systems where required to ensure the patched binaries are loaded.

Workarounds

Enable Protected View and Protected Mode in Acrobat Reader to limit the impact of malicious document processing.
Disable JavaScript execution within Acrobat Reader through the Preferences > JavaScript setting to reduce the attack surface.
Route inbound PDF attachments through a content disarm and reconstruction (CDR) gateway that normalizes document structures.

bash

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