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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2022-27796

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 exists in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC's acroform event processing. When a malicious PDF containing specially crafted acroform data is opened, the application improperly manages memory, leading to a use-after-free condition that can be exploited for arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user.

MitigationUsers should update to the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. Organizations should also consider implementing email/endpoint filtering to block untrusted PDF attachments and train users to avoid opening unsolicited PDF files.

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 product
    On Windows, open Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\Version (for 64-bit) or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat Reader\DC\Version. Alternatively, right-click AcroRd32.exe or AcroRd64.exe in the installation folder, select Properties, and view the File Version.
    Affected if The registry key or file exists, indicating Adobe Acrobat/Reader DC is installed.
  2. Determine exact version number
    Read the Version value from the registry key or note the file version from the executable properties dialog.
    Affected if A version number is returned that matches the installed product.
  3. Compare against affected version ranges for DC products
    Compare your installed version to these ranges: 15.008.20082 through 22.001.20085 for both Acrobat DC and Reader DC. If the version falls within this inclusive range, the installation is affected.
    Affected if The installed version is greater than or equal to 15.008.20082 AND less than or equal to 22.001.20085.
  4. Compare against affected version ranges for Legacy products
    For Acrobat/Reader 17.x, check if version is between 17.011.30059 and 17.012.30205. For 20.x versions, check if between 20.001.30005 and 20.005.30314 (or 20.005.30311 for Reader).
    Affected if The installed version matches any of these legacy ranges: 17.011.30059-17.012.30205, 20.001.30005-20.005.30314, or 20.001.30005-20.005.30311.

You are affected if your installed Adobe Acrobat or Reader version falls within any of the listed vulnerable ranges, and a specially crafted PDF with acroform data is opened by the user.

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

Users should update to the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. Organizations should also consider implementing email/endpoint filtering to block untrusted PDF attachments and train users to avoid opening unsolicited PDF files.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Adobe Acrobat DC (Continuous) 22.002.20191 or later, Classic 2020 20.005.30334 or later, Classic 2017 17.012.30233 or later

  1. 1. Open Adobe Acrobat or Reader and check the current version via Help > About (or About Adobe Acrobat Reader).
  2. 2. Confirm that the installed version falls within the affected ranges: 22.001.20085 or earlier for Acrobat DC (Continuous), 20.005.3031x or earlier for Classic 2020, or 17.012.30205 or earlier for Classic 2017.
  3. 3. Download the latest security update from the official Adobe website or use the built‑in “Help > Check for Updates” feature.
  4. 4. Install the update; for enterprise environments, apply the corresponding patch through your patch‑management system.
  5. 5. Restart the application and verify the version is newer than the fixed releases: 22.002.20191 (or later) for Continuous, 20.005.30334 (or later) for Classic 2020, and 17.012.30233 (or later) for Classic 2017.
Caveat None – the update is a security patch with no expected functional changes

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

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
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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-2022-27796 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