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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2022-24091

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-03-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 21.007.20099 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Acrobat Reader DC version 21.007.20099 (and earlier), 20.004.30017 (and earlier) and 17.011.30204 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds write 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 font file.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

This is an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC's font parsing engine. When parsing a maliciously crafted font file, the software writes data beyond the bounds of allocated memory, which can be leveraged to achieve arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Exploitation requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious font file.

MitigationApply the vendor security updates to obtain patched versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (21.001.20118 or later for the 21.x track, 20.005.31304 or later for the 20.x track, and 17.011.30266 or later for the 17.x track). Exercise caution when opening font files from untrusted sources.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Acrobat DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.008.20082, <= 21.007.20099
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.008.20082, <= 21.007.20099
AcrobatApplication
Affected:>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30204>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.004.30017
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30204>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.004.30017

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Adobe Acrobat or Reader version and track
    On Windows, open the application and go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader, or check Programs and Features in Control Panel. On macOS, right-click the application in Applications and select Get Info. Note both the version number and whether it is DC (subscription) or Classic (standalone) track.
    Affected if Version is within 15.008.20082 to 21.007.20099 (DC track), or within 17.011.30059 to 17.011.30204 or 20.001.30005 to 20.004.30017 (Classic track)
  2. Confirm product matches affected variant
    Verify the installed product is one of: Adobe Acrobat DC, Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, Adobe Acrobat, or Adobe Acrobat Reader.
    Affected if Product is any of these four variants and version falls within affected ranges

Environment is affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader DC/Classic is installed with a version number matching the specified ranges and the application is used to open font files.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 21.007.20099
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor security updates to obtain patched versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (21.001.20118 or later for the 21.x track, 20.005.31304 or later for the 20.x track, and 17.011.30266 or later for the 17.x track). Exercise caution when opening font files from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Latest Adobe Acrobat DC / Acrobat Reader DC (Continuous track) - version 22.x or later, or latest Classic 2020/2021 tracks

  1. 1. Open Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader on your system.
  2. 2. Navigate to Help > Check for Updates (or on Windows, Help > Check for Updates; on macOS, Acrobat/Reader > Check for Updates).
  3. 3. Allow the application to check for and install any available updates.
  4. 4. Alternatively, download the latest version of Acrobat DC or Acrobat Reader DC from the official Adobe website: https://get.adobe.com/reader/ (for Reader) or https://get.adobe.com/acrobat/ (for Acrobat).
  5. 5. After updating, verify the installed version by going to Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader.
  6. 6. Confirm the version is greater than 21.007.20099 for DC versions, greater than 20.004.30017 for Classic 2020, or greater than 17.011.30204 for Classic 2017.
Caveat Upgrade is low risk; standard Adobe update. Ensure compatibility with any existing PDF workflows or integrations before deploying broadly.

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-24091 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data