CVE-2021-44714 [Low] | Security Bypass in Acrobat Dc

Acrobat Reader DC version 21.007.20099 (and earlier), 20.004.30017 (and earlier) and 17.011.30204 (and earlier) are affected by a Violation of Secure Design Principles that could lead to a Security feature bypass. Acrobat Reader DC displays a warning message when a user clicks on a PDF file, which could be used by an attacker to mislead the user. In affected versions, this warning message does not include custom protocols when used by the sender. User interaction is required to abuse this vulnerability as they would need to click 'allow' on the warning message of a malicious file.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-06-15	0.39%	2.47%	+2.09%
2	2026-05-20	0.53%	0.39%	-0.14%
3	2025-11-21	—	0.53%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-06-15

0.39%

2.47%

+2.09%

2026-05-20

0.53%

0.39%

-0.14%

2025-11-21

—

0.53%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
2.5	3.1	LOW	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:L) They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by. Attack complexity (AC:H) Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work. Privileges required (PR:N) No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough. User interaction (UI:R) A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:L) Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump. Integrity (I:N) Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged. Availability (A:N) Service keeps running; no real outage angle.	1.0	1.4	[email protected]
3.3	3.1	LOW	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:L) They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:N) No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough. User interaction (UI:R) A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:L) Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump. Integrity (I:N) Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged. Availability (A:N) Service keeps running; no real outage angle.	1.8	1.4	[email protected]
4.3	2.0	MEDIUM	`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N` Click to expand Access vector (AV:N) Can be exploited remotely over network reachability. Access complexity (AC:M) Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones. Authentication (AU:N) No authentication is required. Confidentiality impact (C:P) Partial confidentiality impact. Integrity impact (I:N) No integrity impact. Availability impact (A:N) No availability impact.	8.6	2.9	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

2.5

3.1

LOW

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N Click to expand

Attack vector (AV:L): They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:H): Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N): No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R): A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L): Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:N): Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N): Service keeps running; no real outage angle.

1.0

1.4

[email protected]

3.3

3.1

LOW

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N Click to expand

Attack vector (AV:L): They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N): No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R): A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L): Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:N): Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N): Service keeps running; no real outage angle.

1.8

1.4

[email protected]

4.3

2.0

MEDIUM

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N Click to expand

Access vector (AV:N): Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M): Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N): No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P): Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N): No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N): No availability impact.

8.6

2.9

[email protected]

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-44714

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
adobe	acrobat_dc	>= 15.008.20082, <= 21.007.20099	cpe:2.3:a:adobe:acrobat_dc:::::continuous:::*
adobe	acrobat_reader_dc	>= 15.008.20082, <= 21.007.20099	cpe:2.3:a:adobe:acrobat_reader_dc:::::continuous:::*
adobe	acrobat	>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30204	cpe:2.3:a:adobe:acrobat:::::classic:::*
adobe	acrobat	>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.004.30017	cpe:2.3:a:adobe:acrobat:::::classic:::*
adobe	acrobat_reader	>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30204	cpe:2.3:a:adobe:acrobat_reader:::::classic:::*
adobe	acrobat_reader	>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.004.30017	cpe:2.3:a:adobe:acrobat_reader:::::classic:::*

References for CVE-2021-44714

URL	Tags
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/acrobat/apsb22-01.html	Vendor Advisory

URL

CVE-2021-44714 | Adobe Acrobat Reader Missing Custom Protocols in Warning Message Prompts

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-44714

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-44714

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-44714

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-44714

References for CVE-2021-44714