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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2022-27786

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2022-05-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 22.001.20085 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 versions 22.001.20085 (and earlier), 20.005.3031x (and earlier) and 17.012.30205 (and earlier) are affected by a use-after-free vulnerability in the processing of fonts 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.

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

A use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC's font processing component allows arbitrary code execution when a user opens a maliciously crafted PDF file. The vulnerability stems from improper memory management during font handling, enabling memory corruption that can be leveraged for code execution in the context of the current user.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to the latest patched versions (22.001.20093 or later, 20.005.30334 or later, or 17.012.30219 or later) to remediate the use-after-free vulnerability in font processing.

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, <= 22.001.20085
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.008.20082, <= 22.001.20085
AcrobatApplication
Affected:>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.012.30205>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30314>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30311
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.012.30205>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30314>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30311

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:3.0/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. Check if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    Look for installation in typical paths: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\, C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat DC\, or check Start Menu for Adobe Acrobat/Reader entries. On macOS, check /Applications for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader is not installed on the system
  2. Determine the installed version number
    Open Adobe Acrobat/Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat). The version number displays in the format like 22.001.20085. Alternatively, check the Windows Registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat DC\InstallVersion or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\InstallVersion.
    Affected if Unable to retrieve version information
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    Match your installed version number to these vulnerable ranges: 15.008.20082 through 22.001.20085 (Acrobat/Reader DC), 17.011.30059 through 17.012.30205, 20.001.30005 through 20.005.30314, or 20.001.30005 through 20.005.30311 (classic versions).
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of the listed vulnerable ranges
  4. Confirm font processing feature is accessible
    The vulnerable font processing component is part of the core PDF rendering engine and is always available when Adobe Acrobat/Reader is installed. No special configuration check needed - any PDF opened with embedded fonts triggers the vulnerable code path.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is running and can open PDF documents with embedded fonts

If the installed Adobe Acrobat or Reader version falls within any of the affected ranges (15.008.20082-22.001.20085, 17.011.30059-17.012.30205, or 20.001.30005-20.005.30314/30311), the environment is vulnerable to CVE-2022-27786 when opening PDF files with maliciously crafted fonts.

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 22.001.20085
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to the latest patched versions (22.001.20093 or later, 20.005.30334 or later, or 17.012.30219 or later) to remediate the use-after-free vulnerability in font processing.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Acrobat DC/Reader DC: 22.001.20093+ | Acrobat 2020: 20.005.30320+ | Acrobat 2017: 17.012.30209+

  1. 1. Verify the current installed version of Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader by navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader.
  2. 2. For users with Acrobat DC/Acrobat Reader DC: Upgrade to version 22.001.20093 or later.
  3. 3. For users with Acrobat 2020/Acrobat Reader 2020: Upgrade to version 20.005.30320 or later.
  4. 4. For users with Acrobat 2017/Acrobat Reader 2017: Upgrade to version 17.012.30209 or later.
  5. 5. After upgrading, restart the application and verify the new version is installed correctly.
  6. 6. Ensure users are advised not to open untrusted or unexpected PDF files, especially those containing custom fonts, as a defense-in-depth measure until the update is applied.
Caveat Standard Adobe update - minimal risk; standard patch compatibility expected

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

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,980
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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-2022-27786 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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