CVE-2022-34222
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 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 confidenceAdobe Acrobat Reader contains an out-of-bounds read vulnerability during file parsing. When processing a specially crafted malicious PDF file, the application reads past the end of an allocated memory buffer. While primarily an information disclosure issue, the vulnerability can be weaponized for code execution in the context of the current user. Exploitation requires user interaction to open the malicious file.
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 product and versionOpen Adobe Acrobat Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader to display the exact version number (for example, 21.001.20093). Alternatively, on Windows check the program properties in Control Panel > Programs and Features, or on macOS check the application bundle info.Affected if The product is Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat (any DC or classic variant) and the displayed version falls within any of these ranges: 15.008.20082 to 22.001.20142, 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30334, 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30331, 17.011.30059 to 17.012.30229, or 17.011.30059 to 17.012.30227.
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Confirm the product typeDetermine whether the installed software is Adobe Acrobat Reader (free PDF viewer) or Adobe Acrobat (commercial version with editing capabilities). Check the product name in the About dialog or in the installed program list.Affected if The installed product is either Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, Adobe Acrobat DC, Adobe Acrobat Reader, or Adobe Acrobat (classic) and the version matches the affected ranges listed above.
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Verify the vulnerability trigger conditionUnderstand that the flaw is triggered during PDF file parsing. No special configuration or feature needs to be enabled; the vulnerability exists in the core PDF rendering engine.Affected if The software version is within the affected ranges AND the user opens or processes an untrusted PDF file - no other configuration check is required since the vulnerability is present in the parsing component by default.
A user is affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat is installed with a version number between the minimum and maximum values specified in the affected ranges (15.008.20082 through 22.001.20142 for DC versions, or 17.011.30059 through 17.012.30229 and 20.001.30005 through 20.005.30334 for classic versions).
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 a version newer than 22.001.20142, 20.005.30334, and 17.012.30229. Implement user training and technical controls to prevent opening untrusted PDF files from unknown sources.
Acrobat DC 22.002.20588+ (or latest 22.x release); Acrobat 2020 20.006.20604+ (or latest 20.x release); Acrobat 2017 17.012.30293+ (or latest 17.x release)
- 1. Verify the current Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader version by opening the application and navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat).
- 2. Determine which product line applies to your installation: Acrobat DC, Acrobat 2020, or Acrobat 2017.
- 3. For Acrobat DC: If version is 22.001.20142 or earlier, upgrade to version 22.002.20588 or later.
- 4. For Acrobat 2020: If version is 20.005.30334 or earlier, upgrade to version 20.006.20604 or later.
- 5. For Acrobat 2017: If version is 17.012.30229 or earlier, upgrade to version 17.012.30293 or later.
- 6. Download the appropriate fixed version from the official Adobe download center (get.adobe.com/reader for Reader, or get.adobe.com/acrobat for Acrobat).
- 7. Close all Adobe applications before running the installer.
- 8. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the upgrade.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-34222 — 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-2022-34222 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