What is CVE-2021-39836?

CVE-2021-39836 is a high-severity vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat, classified under Use After Free. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2021-09-29.

How severe is CVE-2021-39836?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.

Use After Free in Adobe Acrobat

CVE-2021-39836

Acrobat Reader DC versions 2021.005.20060 (and earlier), 2020.004.30006 (and earlier) and 2017.011.30199 (and earlier) are affected by a use-after-free vulnerability in the processing of the AcroForm buttonGetIcon action 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.

Vulnerability class: Use-After-Free

Published 2021-09-29 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.695 (99.4th percentile), scored 2026-10-28.

High probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — patch promptly. 99th percentile — 99.4% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.695 · newest: 0.695 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat Dc
Adobe Acrobat Reader — versions unspecified
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc
Apple macOS
Microsoft Windows

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-416 — Use After Free

References

helpx.adobe.com/security/products/acrobat/apsb21-55.html (Release Notes, Vendor Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-39836?: CVE-2021-39836 is a high-severity vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat, classified under Use After Free. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2021-09-29.
How severe is CVE-2021-39836?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.