CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2021-21045 — Adobe Acrobat security vulnerability

High CVSS 9.3

Acrobat Reader DC versions versions 2020.013.20074 (and earlier), 2020.001.30018 (and earlier) and 2017.011.30188 (and earlier) are affected by an improper access control vulnerability. An unauthenticated attacker could leverage this vulnerability to elevate privileges in the context of the current user.

Severity
High
CVSS
9.3 (2.0)
Published
2021-02-11
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-284

Affected products

  • adobe / acrobat
  • adobe / acrobat_dc
  • adobe / acrobat_reader
  • adobe / acrobat_reader_dc

Showing 4 representative product identities from 6 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Authorization bypass, IDOR, and cross-tenant access

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Check exposure

  • Map object and action authorization checks across API, UI, batch, import/export, and background-job paths.
  • Identify tenant, ownership, role, and policy boundaries for affected resources and administrative operations.
  • Use synthetic fixtures to compare intended access matrices without accessing another user's real data.

Remediate safely

  • Enforce server-side authorization at each resource access and state transition using the authenticated principal and trusted tenant context.
  • Scope data queries by tenant and ownership; treat client-supplied identifiers, roles, and policy claims as untrusted.
  • Add deny-by-default policy tests for horizontal and vertical access across every affected transport.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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