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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2022-28257

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-05-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 22.001.20085 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 version 22.001.2011x (and earlier), 20.005.3033x (and earlier) and 17.012.3022x (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability when parsing a crafted file, which could result in a read past the end of an allocated memory structure. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to bypass mitigations such as ASLR. 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

This is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC's file parsing engine. When parsing a specially crafted PDF file, the application reads beyond the boundaries of allocated memory structures, leaking memory contents that can be used to defeat ASLR mitigations.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to the latest version. Implement email/web gateway filtering to block malicious PDF attachments and educate users about not opening untrusted 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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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. Verify Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    Check the Windows registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, or look for AcroRd32.exe (Reader) or AcroBat.exe/Acrobat.exe (Acrobat) in Program Files
    Affected if No Adobe Acrobat/Reader installation found means not affected by this CVE
  2. Identify the exact installed version number
    Right-click the executable (AcroRd32.exe or Acrobat.exe) in Program Files, select Properties, and read the File Version from the Details tab. Alternatively, run: wmic product where "name like 'Adobe Acrobat%'" get name,version
    Affected if Unable to determine version means impact cannot be assessed
  3. Compare Reader DC version against affected range
    If using Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, compare the 4-digit version (such as 22.001.20085) against the range 15.008.20082 through 22.001.20085. Any version within or equal to these bounds is affected.
    Affected if Version falls within 15.008.20082 to 22.001.20085 inclusive indicates vulnerability
  4. Compare Acrobat/Reader version 17 against affected range
    If using version 17.x, compare against the range 17.011.30059 to 17.012.30205. Any version within or equal to these bounds is affected.
    Affected if Version falls within 17.011.30059 to 17.012.30205 inclusive indicates vulnerability
  5. Compare Acrobat/Reader version 20 against affected range
    If using version 20.x, compare against ranges 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30314 or 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30311. Any version within these bounds is affected.
    Affected if Version falls within 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30314 (or 20.005.30311) inclusive indicates vulnerability

The system is affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed and the detected version falls within any of the listed vulnerable ranges (15.008.20082-22.001.20085, 17.011.30059-17.012.30205, or 20.001.30005-20.005.30314/30311).

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. Implement email/web gateway filtering to block malicious PDF attachments and educate users about not opening untrusted PDF files.

Recommended fix High confidence

Acrobat/Reader DC: 22.001.2011x or later, 20.005.3033x or later, 17.012.3022x or later | Classic Acrobat/Reader 17.x: 17.012.30205 or later | Classic Acrobat/Reader 20.x: 20.005.30314 or later

  1. 1. Identify the currently installed 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. Determine which product line and version family applies (Acrobat DC, Acrobat Reader DC, or Classic Acrobat/Reader)
  3. 3. For Acrobat DC/Reader DC: Upgrade to version 22.001.2011x or later for the 2022 track; or 20.005.3033x or later for the 2020 track; or 17.012.3022x or later for the 2017 track
  4. 4. For Classic Acrobat/Reader (versions 17.x): Upgrade to version 17.012.30205 or later
  5. 5. For Classic Acrobat/Reader (versions 20.x): Upgrade to version 20.005.30314 or later
  6. 6. Download the updated version from the official Adobe website at get.adobe.com/reader or get.adobe.com/acrobat
  7. 7. Close all Adobe applications before running the installer
  8. 8. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the upgrade
Caveat Standard Adobe update - minor version upgrades typically maintain feature compatibility; review Adobe release notes for any feature changes in major version jumps

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
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
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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-2022-28257 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