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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2022-27789

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 the acroform event 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 acroform event processing allows arbitrary code execution when a victim opens a malicious PDF file. The vulnerability occurs because the program attempts to access memory that has already been freed, potentially allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to the latest version (22.001.20093 or later for Continuous track, 20.005.30334 or later for Classic 2020 track, or 17.012.30293 or later for Classic 2017 track) to remediate this vulnerability.

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. Identify installed Adobe Acrobat or Reader product
    On Windows, check the installation directory for Adobe Acrobat/Reader executables. Common paths: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\AcroRd32.exe (Reader) or C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe (Full Acrobat). On macOS, check /Applications for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed on the system
  2. Determine the installed version number
    Right-click the executable (AcroRd32.exe or Acrobat.exe), select Properties, then view the Details tab for the Product version field. Alternatively, run 'wmic datafile where "name='C:\\Program Files\\Adobe\\Acrobat DC\\AcroRd32.exe'" get version' in Command Prompt, or use PowerShell: (Get-Item 'C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\AcroRd32.exe').VersionInfo.FileVersion
    Affected if The version displayed cannot be determined or is within the affected ranges
  3. Compare against affected version ranges for Acrobat DC/Reader DC
    Compare your installed version against: 15.008.20082 through 22.001.20085 for Continuous track versions. Note that versions 20.x and 22.x appear in two separate ranges (20.001.30005 to 20.005.30314 and 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30311) indicating potential overlapping or track-specific variants.
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of the affected ranges: 15.008.20082 to 22.001.20085, 17.011.30059 to 17.012.30205, or 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30314 (or 20.005.30311)
  4. Verify acroform feature is enabled (attack surface check)
    Open Adobe Acrobat/Reader, go to Edit > Preferences > Forms. Confirm that the 'Automatically calculate field values' or similar form-related features are enabled. The vulnerability exists in acroform event processing, so any active form functionality in the application represents potential attack surface.
    Affected if Form-related features in Acrobat/Reader are enabled and the version is within affected ranges

The environment is affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed and the installed version falls within any of the following ranges: 15.008.20082 to 22.001.20085, 17.011.30059 to 17.012.30205, or 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30314 (or 20.005.30311).

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 version (22.001.20093 or later for Continuous track, 20.005.30334 or later for Classic 2020 track, or 17.012.30293 or later for Classic 2017 track) to remediate this vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC/Acrobat DC: 22.001.20093 or later (Continuous); 20.005.30318 or later (2020 Classic); Acrobat/Reader 17.x: 17.012.30209 or later

  1. 1. Verify current Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader version by launching the application and navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (or About Adobe Acrobat DC).
  2. 2. Identify the product line and current version from the affected list provided (Acrobat DC, Acrobat Reader DC, Acrobat, or Acrobat Reader with version 17.x, 20.x, or 22.x).
  3. 3. Download the appropriate fixed version from the official Adobe security bulletin at helpx.adobe.com or get.adobe.com/reader.
  4. 4. For Acrobat DC/Reader DC: Upgrade to version 22.001.20093 or later for the Continuous track; upgrade to 20.005.30318 or later for the 2020 Classic track.
  5. 5. For Acrobat/Reader 17.x: Upgrade to version 17.012.30209 or later.
  6. 6. Close all Adobe applications before running the installer.
  7. 7. Run the installer with administrator privileges and follow the prompts.
  8. 8. After installation, verify the new version by checking Help > About to confirm the patch was applied.
Caveat Standard minor version upgrade - no major configuration changes expected; ensure user files and preferences are backed up before upgrade

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 / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,800
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2022-27789 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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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