Adobe patches Acrobat zero-day that hackers exploited for months
Opening a malicious PDF could give attackers full control of a computer. Update Acrobat and Reader now.
What happened
Adobe fixed a serious security flaw tracked as CVE-2026-34621. Hackers had been exploiting it for at least four months.
Who is affected
- Acrobat DC, Reader DC and Acrobat 2024.
- On both Windows and macOS.
- Attacks work by tricking users into opening a malicious PDF.
How it was found
Researcher Haifei Li of EXPMON found it after a malicious PDF was uploaded to his scanner. Another copy first appeared on VirusTotal in late November 2025.
According to his analysis, the exploit "could lead to full control of the victim's system."
It's still unknown how many people were affected or who was behind the attacks.
What to do
Open Acrobat or Reader → Help → Check for Updates. And don't open PDFs from unknown sources.
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