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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2022-27795

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

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC contains a use-after-free vulnerability in the acroform event processing logic. By tricking a user into opening a specially crafted PDF file, an attacker can trigger memory corruption that leads to arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user session.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to the latest version by visiting https://get.adobe.com/reader or using the Adobe patch management tools. Do not open untrusted PDF files from unknown 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, <= 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. Locate installed Adobe Acrobat or Reader version
    Open the application, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or Reader). The version number will be displayed in the dialog window.
    Affected if The displayed version falls within any of the following ranges: 15.008.20082 to 22.001.20085 (Acrobat/Reader DC); 17.011.30059 to 17.012.30205 (Acrobat/Reader 2017); 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30314 or 20.005.30311 (Acrobat/Reader 2020)
  2. Check version via Windows Registry
    Open Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\(version) or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat Reader\(version). Look for a string value named Version.
    Affected if The version value retrieved matches any of the affected version ranges listed above.
  3. Check product edition type
    Determine whether you are running Acrobat/Reader DC (continuous track) or Acrobat/Reader Classic (traditional track) by inspecting the version number format. DC versions start with 15.x, 17.x, or 20.x+ with DC suffix.
    Affected if The product is Acrobat/Reader DC and the version is between 15.008.20082 and 22.001.20085, or it is Acrobat/Reader Classic (2017/2020) within the listed legacy ranges.
  4. Verify acroform functionality is active
    The vulnerability exists in the acroform event processing component. This feature is enabled by default when forms are present in PDF documents. No additional configuration check is required as the flaw is inherent to the version itself.
    Affected if The installed version is within the affected ranges regardless of specific acroform configuration, since the use-after-free exists in the event processing logic itself.

A user is affected if the installed Adobe Acrobat or Reader version exactly matches one of the version ranges specified in the affected products list, and the software is used to open PDF 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 22.001.20085
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to the latest version by visiting https://get.adobe.com/reader or using the Adobe patch management tools. Do not open untrusted PDF files from unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Acrobat DC/Reader DC: 22.001.20093+ (2022 track), 20.005.30318+ (2020 track), 17.012.30207+ (2017 track); Acrobat/Reader (classic): 20.005.30318+ (2020 track), 17.012.30207+ (2017 track)

  1. 1. Identify the installed Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader version by navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or Reader)
  2. 2. For Acrobat Reader DC / Acrobat DC users: Upgrade to version 22.001.20093 or later for the 2022 track, version 20.005.30318 or later for the 2020 track, or version 17.012.30207 or later for the 2017 track
  3. 3. For Acrobat / Acrobat Reader (classic) users: Upgrade to version 20.005.30318 or later for the 2020 track or version 17.012.30207 or later for the 2017 track
  4. 4. Download the appropriate updated version from the official Adobe Acrobat downloads page: https://get.adobe.com/reader/ (for Reader) or https://get.adobe.com/acrobat/ (for Acrobat)
  5. 5. Close all instances of Adobe Acrobat/Reader and install the updated version
  6. 6. Restart the application and verify the version by checking Help > About
Caveat Standard minor version upgrade - no expected breaking changes for end users; enterprise administrators should test in controlled environment before broad deployment

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
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $3,000
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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-2022-27795 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
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  • 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