dbcve.org
FramemakerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2022-28821

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2022-05-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2020.0.4 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
Adobe Framemaker versions 2029u8 (and earlier) and 2020u4 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds write vulnerability 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 · moderate confidence

This is an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in Adobe Framemaker versions 2020u4 and earlier, and 2029u8 and earlier. The flaw allows arbitrary code execution through a malicious file opened by the victim, exploiting the memory corruption in the context of the current user's privileges.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Framemaker to the patched versions as specified in Adobe's security bulletin. Until patched, instruct users not to open untrusted .fm or Framemaker files from unknown sources.

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
FramemakerApplication
Affected:>= 2019, <= 2019.0.8>= 2020, <= 2020.0.4

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. Check if Adobe Framemaker is installed
    On Windows, check the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Framemaker or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Adobe\Framemaker for the product version. On macOS, check /Applications/Adobe Framemaker for the installed application bundle and its version info.
    Affected if Adobe Framemaker is present on the system
  2. Identify the installed version number
    Retrieve the version value from the registry (Windows) or from the application's Info.plist (macOS). Look for a version like X.Y.Z where X is 2019 or 2020.
    Affected if Version is 2019.x (where x is any value up to and including 0.8) or 2020.x (where x is any value up to and including 0.4) - note that 2019.0.8 and 2020.0.4 are the latest affected versions in each branch
  3. Confirm the specific version matches the affected range
    Compare the installed version string against the affected ranges: 2019.0 through 2019.0.8, and 2020.0 through 2020.0.4. If the installed version falls within either range, the system is vulnerable.
    Affected if Installed version is 2019.0.x where x <= 8, or 2020.0.x where x <= 4

A user is affected if Adobe Framemaker version 2019.0 through 2019.0.8 or version 2020.0 through 2020.0.4 is installed and the user opens untrusted .fm 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 2020.0.4
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Framemaker to the patched versions as specified in Adobe's security bulletin. Until patched, instruct users not to open untrusted .fm or Framemaker files from unknown sources.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Adobe Framemaker 2019.0.9 or later, 2020.0.5 or later, or latest 2022+/2023 release

  1. 1. Close Adobe Framemaker if it is currently running
  2. 2. Navigate to the Adobe Framemaker download page or use Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application
  3. 3. Check the current installed version by opening Framemaker and going to Help > About Adobe Framemaker
  4. 4. If running version 2019.0.8 or earlier, upgrade to version 2019.0.9 or later
  5. 5. If running version 2020.0.4 or earlier, upgrade to version 2020.0.5 or later
  6. 6. Alternatively, upgrade to the latest available Framemaker 2022 or newer release which contains the security fix
  7. 7. After installation, verify the new version by checking Help > About Adobe Framemaker
  8. 8. Ensure the updated version is 2019.0.9+, 2020.0.5+, or 2022+
Caveat Standard upgrade risks apply - back up custom templates and configuration files before upgrading; some legacy features may behave differently in newer versions

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

Fix this in Framemaker Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,090
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,744.

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-2022-28821 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