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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2022-27797

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 annotations 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 annotation processing allows arbitrary code execution when processing maliciously crafted PDF files. The vulnerability occurs when the software attempts to access memory that has already been freed during annotation handling, potentially enabling an attacker to execute code in the context of the current user.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to a version later than 22.001.20085, 20.005.3031x, or 17.012.30205. Restrict users from opening untrusted PDF files until the patch is deployed.

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 product version
    Open Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat for Pro version). The version number appears in the dialog box. Alternatively, right-click the application shortcut and select Properties, then check the Details tab for version information.
    Affected if Version falls within any of these ranges: 15.008.20082 through 22.001.20085, 17.011.30059 through 17.012.30205, or 20.001.30005 through 20.005.30314/30311
  2. Confirm product type is affected
    Determine whether the installed product is Adobe Acrobat DC, Acrobat Reader DC, Adobe Acrobat, or Adobe Reader. All listed product types are affected by this vulnerability.
    Affected if Product is any version of Adobe Acrobat DC, Acrobat Reader DC, Adobe Acrobat, or Adobe Reader within the version ranges from step 1
  3. Verify annotation feature is accessible
    Open any PDF file in the installed Adobe product and attempt to access the Annotations panel (View > Show/Hide > Navigation Panes > Annotations) or right-click within the PDF to see annotation-related options.
    Affected if The Annotations feature is available and functional in the installed version, as the vulnerability occurs during annotation processing of malicious PDF files

A user is affected if they have Adobe Acrobat or Reader installed with a version number between 15.008.20082 and 22.001.20085 (DC versions) or within the 17.x and 20.x ranges specified, and the Annotations feature can be accessed when opening 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 a version later than 22.001.20085, 20.005.3031x, or 17.012.30205. Restrict users from opening untrusted PDF files until the patch is deployed.

Recommended fix High confidence

Acrobat Reader DC/Acrobat: 22.001.20093 or later for Continuous track; 20.005.30334 or later for Classic 2020 track; 17.012.30217 or later for Classic 2017 track

  1. 1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader DC or Adobe Acrobat on your system.
  2. 2. Navigate to Help > Check for Updates (or Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader DC/Acrobat).
  3. 3. If updates are available, download and install the latest version for your product line.
  4. 4. Alternatively, download the patched versions directly from Adobe's security bulletin: helpx.adobe.com/security/products/acrobat/apsb22-32.html
  5. 5. Verify the installed version by going to Help > About to confirm the fix is applied.
Caveat Upgrade within same track (Classic to Classic or Continuous to Continuous) typically has no breaking changes; however, verify compatibility with your workflow and any dependent plugins.

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
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.

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-2022-27797 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