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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2022-34216

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 a Use After Free 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 · high confidence

A Use After Free vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader allows arbitrary code execution when a victim opens a maliciously crafted PDF file. The vulnerability stems from improper memory management where memory is freed but still accessed, leading to potential code execution in the current user's context.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version newer than 22.001.20142, 20.005.30334, or 17.012.30229, and exercise caution when opening PDF files from untrusted 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. Identify if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    On Windows, check Programs and Features or run 'wmic product get name,version'. On macOS, check /Applications folder or run 'system_profiler SPApplicationsDataType | grep -i acrobat'.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader is present on the system
  2. Determine the exact installed version
    On Windows, right-click the application in Programs and Features and select Properties, or use 'wmic product where "name like '%Acrobat%'" get name,version'. On macOS, right-click the app in Applications and select Get Info.
    Affected if The displayed version matches one of the affected version ranges
  3. Compare your version to the affected ranges
    For Acrobat/Reader DC (Continuous): versions 15.008.20082 through 22.001.20142 are affected. For 2020 (Classic): versions 20.001.30005 through 20.005.30334 or 20.005.30331 are affected. For 2017 (Classic): versions 17.011.30059 through 17.012.30229 or 17.012.30227 are affected.
    Affected if Your installed version falls within any of these inclusive ranges: 15.008.20082-22.001.20142, 20.001.30005-20.005.30334, 20.001.30005-20.005.30331, 17.011.30059-17.012.30229, or 17.011.30059-17.012.30227

You are affected if Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader is installed and the version number falls within any of the affected version ranges listed above.

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, and exercise caution when opening PDF files from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat/Reader 22.002.xxxx or later, 20.006.xxxx or later, or 17.013.xxxx or later

  1. 1. Open Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader
  2. 2. Go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or About Adobe Acrobat Reader) to check the current version number
  3. 3. If the version is 22.001.20142 or earlier, 20.005.30334 or earlier, or 17.012.30229 or earlier, an update is required
  4. 4. Open Adobe Acrobat or Reader and go to Help > Check for Updates
  5. 5. 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)
  6. 6. Install the update and restart the application
  7. 7. After installation, verify the version by returning to Help > About to confirm the version is higher than the affected versions
Caveat Standard Adobe update - 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
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,900
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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-2022-34216 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