{"id":63952,"date":"2025-08-10T10:40:28","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T10:40:28","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-09-16T12:32:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T18:32:20","slug":"cve-2025-43576-use-after-free-vulnerability-in-acrobat-reader-leading-to-arbitrary-code-execution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-43576-use-after-free-vulnerability-in-acrobat-reader-leading-to-arbitrary-code-execution\/","title":{"rendered":"<strong>CVE-2025-43576: Use After Free Vulnerability in Acrobat Reader Leading to Arbitrary Code Execution<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>CVE-2025-43576 is a significant vulnerability that affects multiple versions of the popular Acrobat Reader software. The vulnerability is of the Use After Free type, a common class of issues that can lead to serious consequences, including arbitrary code execution under the identity of the logged-in user. This issue is particularly concerning due to Acrobat Reader&#8217;s widespread use, which makes numerous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-49691-heap-based-buffer-overflow-in-windows-media-leading-to-potential-system-compromise\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"72128\">systems potentially<\/a> susceptible to exploitation.<br \/>\nThe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-53546-high-severity-vulnerability-in-folo-s-github-workflow\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"73442\">severity of this vulnerability<\/a> underscores the importance of maintaining up-to-date software, vigilant monitoring of cybersecurity threats, and continuous security patching. As this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-44955-critical-vulnerability-in-ruckus-network-director-allows-jail-users-to-gain-root-access\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"76069\">vulnerability requires user<\/a> interaction to exploit, it also highlights the need for ongoing user education to prevent opening of malicious files.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>CVE ID: CVE-2025-43576<br \/>\nSeverity: High (CVSS: 7.8)<br \/>\nAttack Vector: Local<br \/>\nPrivileges Required: None<br \/>\nUser Interaction: Required<br \/>\nImpact: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-30327-integer-overflow-vulnerability-in-incopy-leading-to-potential-arbitrary-code-execution\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"73540\">Arbitrary code<\/a> execution, potential system compromise or data leakage<\/p>\n<p><strong>Affected Products<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-3236401883\" class=\"ameeb-content-2 ameeb-entity-placement\"><div style=\"border-left: 4px solid #555; padding-left: 20px; margin: 48px 0; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; color: #ffffff; line-height: 1.6; max-width: 700px;\">\r\n  <h2 style=\"margin-top: 0; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 600; display: flex; align-items: center;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"display: inline-flex; align-items: center; margin-right: 8px;\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Best-App-icon-Ameeba.png\" alt=\"Ameeba Chat Icon\" style=\"width: 40px; height: 40px;\" \/>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    A new way to communicate\r\n  <\/h2>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 12px;\">\r\n    Ameeba Chat is built on encrypted identity, not personal profiles.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 16px;\">\r\n    Message, call, share files, and coordinate with identities kept separate.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <ul style=\"list-style: none; padding-left: 0; margin-bottom: 20px;\">\r\n    <li>\u2022 Encrypted identity<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Ameeba Chat authenticates access<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Aliases and categories<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 End-to-end encrypted chat, calls, and files<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Secure notes for sensitive information<\/li>\r\n  <\/ul>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"font-style: italic; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\r\n    Private communication, rethought.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <div style=\"display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 12px;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\/download\" style=\"background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 6px; font-weight: 500;\">Download Ameeba Chat<\/a>\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"border: 1px solid #ffffff; color: #ffffff; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 6px; font-weight: 500;\">Learn More<\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<p>Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-43577-use-after-free-vulnerability-in-acrobat-reader-leading-to-arbitrary-code-execution\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"80132\">Acrobat Reader<\/a> | 24.001.30235, 20.005.30763, 25.001.20521 and earlier versions<\/p>\n<p><strong>How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The vulnerability exists due to an error within the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-43193-critical-memory-handling-vulnerability-in-macos\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"71706\">Acrobat Reader<\/a> software&#8217;s memory handling. More specifically, the software fails to properly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-55158-critical-memory-management-vulnerability-in-vim-text-editor\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"78873\">manage memory<\/a> when handling certain file types. This can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-52496-race-condition-in-mbed-tls-library-leads-to-potential-aes-key-extraction\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"76147\">lead to a &#8220;Use After Free&#8221; condition<\/a>, where the software continues to use memory after it has been freed or deleted.<br \/>\nIn the context of this vulnerability, an attacker could craft a malicious file that, when opened by a victim in Acrobat Reader, triggers this condition and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-47168-use-after-free-vulnerability-in-microsoft-office-word-allowing-unauthorized-code-execution\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"73086\">allows the attacker to execute arbitrary code<\/a> in the context of the current user. This could <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-27055-memory-corruption-leads-to-potential-system-compromise-during-image-encoding\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"74190\">lead to a full compromise of the affected system<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-812318403\" class=\"ameeb-content ameeb-entity-placement\"><div class=\"poptin-embedded\" data-id=\"f6b387694f681\"><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/div>\n<p>While we won&#8217;t provide an actual exploit, a conceptual example might look something like this:<\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"\" data-line=\"\">$ echo &#039;malicious_code&#039; &gt; malicious.pdf\n$ acroread malicious.pdf<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>In the above example, the &#8220;malicious_code&#8221; represents code crafted to trigger the Use After Free condition in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-32451-memory-corruption-vulnerability-in-foxit-reader-leading-to-arbitrary-code-execution\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"74406\">Acrobat Reader<\/a> and execute arbitrary commands.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mitigation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To mitigate the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-54689-high-risk-php-remote-file-inclusion-vulnerability-in-urna\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"76650\">risk associated with this vulnerability<\/a>, users should immediately apply the vendor-supplied patch once available. If the patch is not yet available or cannot be applied immediately, a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can be used as temporary mitigation.<br \/>\nAs this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-5821-critical-authentication-bypass-vulnerability-in-case-theme-user-plugin-for-wordpress\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"83321\">vulnerability requires user<\/a> interaction, educating users about the risks of opening unexpected or suspicious files can also help prevent successful exploitation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview CVE-2025-43576 is a significant vulnerability that affects multiple versions of the popular Acrobat Reader software. The vulnerability is of the Use After Free type, a common class of issues that can lead to serious consequences, including arbitrary code execution under the identity of the logged-in user. This issue is particularly concerning due to Acrobat [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[],"product":[],"attack_vector":[80],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-63952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","attack_vector-rce"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63952"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75862,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63952\/revisions\/75862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63952"},{"taxonomy":"vendor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vendor?post=63952"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=63952"},{"taxonomy":"attack_vector","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/attack_vector?post=63952"},{"taxonomy":"asset_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/asset_type?post=63952"},{"taxonomy":"severity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/severity?post=63952"},{"taxonomy":"exploit_status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exploit_status?post=63952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}