Application denial-of-service via untrusted PowerShell search path
Published Aug 10, 2023 · Updated May 28, 2026
Untrusted search path handling in Adobe Acrobat Reader allows attackers to interrupt the application by supplying a malicious file. Adobe has not published the searched resource, lookup order, or file element that causes PowerShell to resolve content from an untrusted path. Affected releases are 23.003.20244 and earlier and 20.005.30467 and earlier; exploitation requires a victim to open the file while PowerShell execution policy is Unrestricted.
Summary
What happened
Untrusted search path handling in Adobe Acrobat Reader allows attackers to interrupt the application by supplying a malicious file. Adobe has not published the searched resource, lookup order, or file element that causes PowerShell to resolve content from an untrusted path. Affected releases are 23.003.20244 and earlier and 20.005.30467 and earlier; exploitation requires a victim to open the file while PowerShell execution policy is Unrestricted.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-29299
- Published
- Aug 10, 2023
- Updated
- May 28, 2026
- Vendor
- Adobe
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
- Classifications
- CWE-426, T1204.002
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 10, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 28, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <=23.003.20244
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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