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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2022-28232

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 collab object 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 processing of the collab object. When the collab object is processed, memory is deallocated but the application continues to use freed memory pointers, leading to arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to a version newer than 22.001.20085, 20.005.3031x, or 17.012.30205 as applicable. Avoid opening untrusted PDF files until updates are applied.

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
    Check if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is installed. On Windows, look in Programs and Features or check C:\Program Files\Adobe\ for Adobe Acrobat DC or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\ for Acrobat Reader DC.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (Classic or DC) is installed
  2. Get installed version number
    Open Adobe Acrobat or Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or About Adobe Reader) to display the exact version and build number (for example: 22.001.20085).
    Affected if The displayed version number is visible and can be compared to affected ranges
  3. Compare version to affected ranges
    Match your installed version to these ranges: DC products (Acrobat and Reader) 15.008.20082 through 22.001.20085; Classic 2017 versions 17.011.30059 through 17.012.30205; Classic 2020 versions 20.001.30005 through 20.005.30314.
    Affected if Your version falls within any of the listed affected ranges

You are affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader DC, Classic 2017, or Classic 2020 is installed and the version number is between the minimum and maximum values shown for your product line.

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 newer than 22.001.20085, 20.005.3031x, or 17.012.30205 as applicable. Avoid opening untrusted PDF files until updates are applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC / Acrobat DC 2022: Upgrade to version 22.001.20093 or later; 2020 track: Upgrade to version 20.005.30317 or later; 2017 track: Upgrade to version 17.012.30207 or later

  1. 1. Verify current Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader version by opening the application and navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (or About Adobe Acrobat DC)
  2. 2. Download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC or Adobe Acrobat DC from the official Adobe website at get.adobe.com/reader or get.adobe.com/acrobat
  3. 3. Close all running instances of Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader
  4. 4. Run the downloaded installer and follow the prompts to complete the installation
  5. 5. After installation, verify the version has been updated to a fixed release: version 22.001.20093 or later for 2022 track, version 20.005.30317 or later for 2020 track, or version 17.012.30207 or later for 2017 track
Caveat Standard Adobe update carries minimal risk; ensure backup of important PDF files before updating as a precaution

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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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-2022-28232 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