Evidence used
- No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
- Exploitation requires an existing local or physical foothold with privileges.
- EPSS is 0.19% for the current model date.
BlackTreeCVE IntelligenceFull vulnerability report · 2026
CVE-2026-80159High confidence
Acrobat Reader | Untrusted Search Path (CWE-426)
Adobe · Adobe Acrobat
Official source article: Adobe APSB26-141 ↗. Check the applicable product and release in the original source.
4.0MediumCVSS 3.1
Scheduled
Patch availableMedium technical severity with no CISA KEV confirmation; remediate through the normal risk-based patch cycle unless local exposure raises the priority.
R
Open reassessment dashboard →Operational reassessment
Published severity in operational context
Published severityMedium→Operational priority:Low, lowered one band.downgradedsince 17 Sep 2026
Compensating controls
- Validate the affected product branch and deploy the verified fixed release.
- Restrict local access and enforce least privilege on affected hosts.
- Monitor vendor guidance and exploitation sources for a material change.
Verification
- Confirm that the asset runs Adobe Adobe Acrobat and falls inside the recorded affected range.
- Verify the installed build against the product-specific fixed version after deployment.
- Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
- Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Medium technical severity with no CISA KEV confirmation; remediate through the normal risk-based patch cycle unless local exposure raises the priority.
Patch available01
What, why and how
Acrobat Reader is affected by an Untrusted Search Path vulnerability that could result in privilege escalation. An attacker with high privileges could leverage this vulnerability to gain elevated access. Exploit depends on conditions beyond the attacker's control. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.
What
Acrobat Reader is affected by an Untrusted Search Path vulnerability that could result in privilege escalation. An attacker with high privileges could leverage this vulnerability to gain elevated access. Exploit depends on conditions beyond the attacker's control. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.
Why
The product searches for critical resources using an externally-supplied search path that can point to resources that are not under the product's direct control.
How
An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with elevated privileges. If successful, the issue may gain additional privileges.
What
Acrobat Reader is affected by an Untrusted Search Path vulnerability that could result in privilege escalation. An attacker with high privileges could leverage this vulnerability to gain elevated access. Exploit depends on conditions beyond the attacker's control. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.
Why
The product searches for critical resources using an externally-supplied search path that can point to resources that are not under the product's direct control.
How
An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with elevated privileges. If successful, the issue may gain additional privileges.
02
Exploit reality and attack path
CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.
Observed exploitation No confirmed evidence
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.
Public PoC / exploit material None recorded
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.
- Likely attack path
- local access → Untrusted Search Path → gain additional privileges
- Attack surface
- Local
- Privileges required
- High: elevated access is required
- User interaction
- Required interaction required
- Attack complexity
- High: exploitation depends on specific conditions
- Security boundary
- Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
- Weakness
?
CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness. - CWE-426 ↗
CWE-426: Untrusted Search Path. The product searches for critical resources using an externally-supplied search path that can point to resources that are not under the product's direct control.
- CVSS vector
?
CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity. CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:NCommon Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.
AVLocalAttack vector: The attacker needs local access to the vulnerable system.ACHighAttack complexity: Successful exploitation depends on specific conditions outside the attacker's direct control.PRHighPrivileges required: The attacker needs elevated or administrative privileges.UIRequiredUser interaction: Another user must perform an action for exploitation to succeed.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.INoneIntegrity impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.ANoneAvailability impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.- Post-exploitation / living off the land
- The issue can support a local privilege or sandbox boundary transition; normal system utilities may then be available in the gained context.
03
Patch and workaround
Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.
- Status
?
Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change. - Patch available
- Affected
- Action
- Review the linked authoritative reference and apply the recorded fixed release appropriate to the affected product branch.
- Workaround
- No verified workaround is recorded. Limit untrusted access and use least privilege until authoritative guidance is available.
Official vendor articles1 stored document
Linked articles are downloaded and versioned as source evidence. A CVE mention or approved update relationship does not, by itself, verify a fix for every product branch.
- Security update available for Adobe Acrobat Reader | APSB26-141 →Original publisher ↗Searchable text snapshot · Captured 27 Sep 2026#202020 Adobe Security Bulletin Last updated on Sep 8, 2026 Security update available for Adobe Acrobat Reader | APSB26-141 Bulletin ID Date published Priority APSB26-141 September 8, 2026 2 style grid width 12 Summary Adobe has released a security update for Adobe Acrobat and Reader for Windows and macOS. This up
04
Evidence and provenance
Published 8 Sept 2026 · Last source change 17 Sept 2026, 19:04 UTC · CWE-426 · Untrusted Search Path
CVE recordCVE.org · 5.2
CVSS sourceCNA
EPSS source FIRST · tracked since 2026-09-09
?
The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2026-74105
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCNA
NVD statusNVD enriched
Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.
Material change intelligence
View recent updates ↗What changed after publication
- Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.CNA ↗
- Before
- ≤ 26.002.21900; ≤ 24.001.30383 · Fixed: 26.002.21901; 24.001.30429
- After
- Adobe Acrobat: ≤ 26.002.21900; Acrobat Reader: ≤ 26.002.21900; Acrobat 2024: ≤ 24.001.30383 · Fixed: Adobe Acrobat: 26.002.21901; Acrobat Reader: 26.002.21901; Acrobat 2024: 24.001.30429
- ENISA EUVD mappingEUVD-2026-74105 was added to the official ENISA EUVD mapping for this CVE.ENISA EUVD ↗
- Before
- not recorded
- After
- {"euvdId":"EUVD-2026-74105"}
- Vendor guidanceAuthoritative vendor guidance changed: added vendor advisory: helpx.adobe.com/apsb26-141.html.psirt@adobe.com ↗
- Before
- remediation: helpx.adobe.com/apsb26-141.html
- After
- remediation: helpx.adobe.com/apsb26-141.html · vendor advisory: helpx.adobe.com/apsb26-141.html
- Catalogue recordCVE added to the BlackTree catalogue.CNA ↗
CVE published
Fixed release or patch reference recorded
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
- CVE
- Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
- CVSS
- Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
- EPSS
- Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
- CWE
- Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
- CNA
- CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
- CISA ADP
- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
- NVD
- National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
- CERT / CSIRT
- A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
- PoC
- Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
- CSAF
- Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
- LoTL
- Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.