CVE-2021-35984

Application denial of service via null pointer dereference

Published Aug 20, 2021 · Updated Sep 16, 2024

Null pointer dereference in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC through 2021.005.20054 allows local users to cause application denial-of-service. Adobe identifies the affected locus only as a NULL pointer dereference and does not publish the function or parsing operation that dereferences invalid data. An authenticated local user can trigger the fault without user interaction, terminating the application in the current user's context; confidentiality and integrity impacts are not reported.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability1.82%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Null pointer dereference in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC through 2021.005.20054 allows local users to cause application denial-of-service. Adobe identifies the affected locus only as a NULL pointer dereference and does not publish the function or parsing operation that dereferences invalid data. An authenticated local user can trigger the fault without user interaction, terminating the application in the current user's context; confidentiality and integrity impacts are not reported.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-35984
Published
Aug 20, 2021
Updated
Sep 16, 2024
Vendor
Adobe
Product
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Classifications
CWE-476, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 20, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 16, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=2017.011.30197
  2. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=2020.004.30005
  3. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=2021.005.20054
  4. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=None

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Adobe · Adobe Acrobat Readerversion=unspecified <=2017.011.30197; version=unspecified <=2020.004.30005; version=unspecified <=2021.005.20054; version=unspecified <=None

Published CVSS scores

4.0NVDAV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:N/I:N/A:P
6.5NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.5Adobe Systems IncorporatedCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-476NULL Pointer Dereference
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo