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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2022-28260

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 that occurs when parsing a specially crafted PDF file. The vulnerability allows reading past the end of allocated memory structures, which could leak sensitive memory addresses and enable bypass of ASLR as an information disclosure issue.

MitigationApply the vendor security update to upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. Additionally, train users to avoid opening untrusted or unexpected PDF files, as exploitation requires user interaction.

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. Check if Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is installed
    Open Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or check C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\ for the AcroRd32.exe or AcroTray.exe executables
    Affected if The application is present on the system
  2. Determine the installed version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
    Right-click on AcroRd32.exe in the Acrobat DC folder, select Properties, and view the Details tab for the Product version, or open Adobe Acrobat Reader and go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
    Affected if Version falls within the affected ranges: 15.008.20082 through 22.001.20085
  3. Check if Adobe Acrobat (classic) is installed
    Look in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat for the executable, or check Programs and Features for Adobe Acrobat
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat (non-DC) is present on the system
  4. Determine the version of Adobe Acrobat classic
    Right-click on Acrobat.exe, select Properties > Details to view Product version, or open the application and check Help > About Adobe Acrobat
    Affected if Version is 17.011.30059 through 17.012.30205, OR 20.001.30005 through 20.005.30314, OR 20.001.30005 through 20.005.30311
  5. Compare your installed version against the affected ranges
    Document the full version number from steps 2 or 4 and compare it against the listed affected version boundaries for your specific product
    Affected if The installed version matches or falls between any of the specified affected version ranges

A user is affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader DC or Adobe Acrobat (classic) is installed and the installed version number falls within any of the version ranges listed in the affected products.

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

Apply the vendor security update to upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. Additionally, train users to avoid opening untrusted or unexpected PDF files, as exploitation requires user interaction.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat/Reader 22.001.2012 or later for 22.x track; 20.005.3034 or later for 20.x track; 17.012.3023 or later for 17.x track

  1. 1. Identify the currently installed Adobe Acrobat or Reader version by opening the application and navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat).
  2. 2. Based on the installed version track, upgrade to the fixed version: For 22.x track: upgrade to version 22.001.2012 or later; For 20.x track: upgrade to version 20.005.3034 or later; For 17.x track: upgrade to version 17.012.3023 or later.
  3. 3. Download the updated version from the official Adobe website at https://get.adobe.com/reader/ (for Reader) or https://get.adobe.com/acrobat/ (for Acrobat).
  4. 4. Close all running instances of Adobe Acrobat or Reader before installing the update.
  5. 5. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the installation.
  6. 6. After installation, verify the new version by checking Help > About to confirm the patch level.
  7. 7. Ensure Adobe Auto-Update is enabled to receive future security updates automatically.
Caveat Standard minor version upgrade with no expected breaking changes; only security fixes

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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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-2022-28260 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