CVE-2022-34217
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 · uneditedAdobe 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 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 · high confidenceAn out-of-bounds write vulnerability exists in Adobe Acrobat Reader for Windows and macOS. By crafting a malicious PDF file, an attacker can trigger memory corruption that may lead to arbitrary code execution with the current user's privileges. User interaction (opening the file) is required for exploitation.
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>= 15.008.20082, <= 22.001.20142>= 15.008.20082, <= 22.001.20142>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30334>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30331>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.012.30229>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.012.30227>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30334>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30331>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.012.30229>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.012.30227CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Adobe productOpen Adobe Acrobat Reader or Acrobat, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat). Alternatively, on Windows check Programs and Features, or on macOS right-click the app in Applications and select Get Info.Affected if The product name is Adobe Acrobat Reader Dc, Adobe Acrobat Dc, Adobe Acrobat Reader, or Adobe Acrobat
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Note the exact version numberRead the full version number displayed in the About window (for example: 22.001.20142). Note the three-part version number format (xx.xxx.xxxxx).Affected if A version number is displayed that can be compared to the affected ranges
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Compare version against affected rangesDetermine which track your version belongs to (Continuous/2020/2017) based on the version number prefix, then check if it falls within any of these ranges: 15.008.20082 to 22.001.20142 (DC/Reader), 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30334 or 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30331 (2020), 17.011.30059 to 17.012.30229 or 17.011.30059 to 17.012.30227 (2017).Affected if The installed version falls within any of the listed affected version ranges
Your environment is affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat is installed with a version number between 15.008.20082 and 22.001.20142 (DC/Reader tracks), between 20.001.30005 and 20.005.30334/30331 (2020 track), or between 17.011.30059 and 17.012.30229/30227 (2017 track).
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scopedUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest version (22.002.20220 or later for Continuous track; equivalent for Classic and 2020 tracks). Avoid opening PDF files from untrusted sources and consider enabling Protected View in Adobe settings.
Acrobat/Acrobat Reader DC (Continuous): 22.001.20193+; Acrobat/Acrobat Reader 2020 (Classic): 20.005.30345+; Acrobat/Acrobat Reader 2017 (Classic): 17.012.30293+
- 1. Identify the installed Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader version by opening the application and navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat).
- 2. Based on the installed version, upgrade to the fixed release for your product line: For Acrobat/Acrobat Reader DC (Continuous): upgrade to version 22.001.20193 or later. For Acrobat/Acrobat Reader 2020 (Classic): upgrade to version 20.005.30345 or later. For Acrobat/Acrobat Reader 2017 (Classic): upgrade to version 17.012.30293 or later.
- 3. Download the updated version from the official Adobe website or use the application's built-in update feature (Help > Check for Updates).
- 4. Close all running instances of Adobe Acrobat or Reader before installing the update.
- 5. Install the updated version and restart the application.
- 6. Verify the fix by checking the version number again and confirming it is beyond the vulnerable version ranges.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-34217 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-34217 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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