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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2022-34215

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-07-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 22.001.20142 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 Acrobat Reader versions 22.001.20142 (and earlier), 20.005.30334 (and earlier) and 17.012.30229 (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 execute code 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 contains an out-of-bounds read vulnerability when parsing specially crafted PDF files. The vulnerability allows reading past the end of an allocated memory structure, which could potentially be leveraged for code execution in the context of the current user. Exploitation requires user interaction—specifically, the victim must open a malicious file.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version newer than 22.001.20142, 20.005.30334, or 17.012.30229. Avoid opening untrusted PDF files from unknown or unverified 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
Acrobat DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.008.20082, <= 22.001.20142
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.008.20082, <= 22.001.20142
AcrobatApplication
Affected:>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30334>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30331>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.012.30229>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.012.30227
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30334>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30331>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.012.30229>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.012.30227

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:3.1/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 Acrobat or Reader is installed
    On Windows, open Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion' in PowerShell. Look for 'Adobe Acrobat' or 'Adobe Reader' in the name.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader appears in the installed programs list
  2. Determine the exact installed version
    Open Adobe Acrobat/Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat). The version number displayed (such as 22.001.20112 or 17.012.30220) is the installed version.
    Affected if The version shown is within any of the following ranges: 15.008.20082 to 22.001.20142, 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30334, or 17.011.30059 to 17.012.30229
  3. Confirm the product type and build
    Note whether the installed product is Adobe Acrobat (standard/pro) or Adobe Acrobat Reader, and whether it is a Continuous track (Dc) or a Classic track version. This distinction matters because different version numbers map to different release tracks.
    Affected if The product is any edition of Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader within the affected version ranges listed above
  4. Verify if the vulnerability is exploitable
    Since exploitation requires user interaction, check whether the system routinely opens PDF files from email attachments, web downloads, or other untrusted sources. There is no local configuration to test for this vulnerability; it triggers only when parsing a specially crafted PDF.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader within the affected version ranges is used to open PDF files from unknown or untrusted sources

A user is affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader is installed with a version number between 15.008.20082 and 22.001.20142 (for DC versions) or between 17.011.30059 and 17.012.30229 / 20.001.30005 and 20.005.30334 (for Classic versions), and the application is used to open 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 22.001.20142
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version newer than 22.001.20142, 20.005.30334, or 17.012.30229. Avoid opening untrusted PDF files from unknown or unverified sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Acrobat DC/Reader DC: upgrade to version 22.001.20093 or later (specifically versions beyond 22.001.20142); Acrobat/Reader 20.x: upgrade to version 20.005.30334 or later (beyond 20.005.30334); Acrobat/Reader 17.x: upgrade to version 17.012.30229 or later

  1. Open Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader
  2. Navigate to Help > Check for Updates or use the built-in update mechanism
  3. Alternatively, download the latest version from the official Adobe website: https://get.adobe.com/reader/ (for Reader) or https://get.adobe.com/acrobat/ (for Acrobat)
  4. Install the latest version which contains the security patch addressing CVE-2022-34215
  5. Verify the version after update: In Acrobat/Reader, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader/Adobe Acrobat to confirm the installed version
Caveat Standard Adobe update carries minimal risk; may require restart of the application

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
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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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-2022-34215 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