Adobe · Acrobat and Reader · Adobe Acrobat and Reader Prototype Pollution Vulnerability
Verdict
Patch on your normal cycle · actively exploited, not reachable unauthenticated from the internet, and in the top 25% of CVEs by near-term exploitation probability
Added to CISA KEV 2026-04-13 · exploited in the wild for 167 days
CVSS 8.6 HIGH. The score is a summary; these three components are the part that decides whether something scanning the internet can use it.
| Attack vector | localrequires local access to the machine |
|---|---|
| Privileges required | noneneeds no credentials at all |
| User interaction | requiredneeds a user to click, load or submit something first |
| Base vector | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| Weakness | CWE-1321 |
This describes the vulnerability. It says nothing about whether your systems run it.
EPSS puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.0218, which places it in the top 25% of all tracked CVEs. The percentile is the more useful half: 0.18 in absolute terms sounds low until you know most of the internet-facing software in the world scores under that.
| EPSS probability | 0.0218 |
|---|---|
| Percentile | 0.816 — top 25% |
| Added to KEV | 2026-04-13 |
|---|---|
| Days exploited | 167 |
| Federal remediation due | not set |
| Ransomware use | no known ransomware campaign use |
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
Acrobat Reader versions 24.001.30356, 26.001.21367 and earlier are affected by an Improperly Controlled Modification of Object Prototype Attributes ('Prototype Pollution') vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.