CVE-2022-34236
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 that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to bypass mitigations such as ASLR. 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 confidenceThis is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader that allows disclosure of sensitive memory contents. An attacker could craft a malicious PDF file that, when opened by a victim, triggers the vulnerability and allows memory reading beyond allocated buffer boundaries. This information disclosure can be leveraged to defeat ASLR mitigation, potentially facilitating further 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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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Locate installed Adobe Acrobat or Reader applicationOpen the application and go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or Reader), or check the executable file properties of AcroRd32.exe or Acrobat.exe in the installation directoryAffected if The application is Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader (any version)
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Identify the exact version numberRead the version displayed in the About dialog (format typically shows as xx.xxx.xxxxxx) or the file version property of the main executableAffected if A version number is displayed in the About dialog or file properties
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Compare against affected version rangesMatch your installed version number to these ranges: Acrobat DC: 15.008.20082 through 22.001.20142; Acrobat/Reader 20.x: 20.001.30005 through 20.005.30334 (or 20.005.30331 depending on update track); Acrobat/Reader 17.x: 17.011.30059 through 17.012.30229 (or 17.012.30227 depending on update track)Affected if The installed version falls within any of the listed vulnerable ranges (>= 15.008.20082 and <= 22.001.20142 for DC; >= 17.011.30059 and <= 17.012.30229/27 for 17.x; >= 20.001.30005 and <= 20.005.30334/31 for 20.x)
You are affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed and its version falls within the vulnerable ranges listed above, making you potentially susceptible to the out-of-bounds read when opening a malicious PDF.
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 · scopedApply the vendor-released security update: upgrade Adobe Acrobat Reader to version 22.001.20193 (or later for 22.x), 20.005.30345 (or later for 20.x), or 17.012.30293 (or later for 17.x). Organizations should deploy via patch management and verify PDF functionality post-update.
Adobe Acrobat/Reader 22.001.20143 or later for version 22.x; 20.005.30335 or later for version 20.x; 17.012.30230 or later for version 17.x
- 1. Verify current Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader version by opening the application and navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat for the full product)
- 2. Download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader from the official Adobe website at get.adobe.com/reader or adobe.com/acrobat
- 3. Close all running instances of Adobe Acrobat or Reader before installing the update
- 4. Run the installer with administrator privileges and follow the prompts to complete the upgrade
- 5. After installation, verify the new version is installed by checking Help > About again to confirm the version is beyond 22.001.20142, 20.005.30334, or 17.012.30229 depending on your product line
- 6. Ensure Adobe Auto-Update is enabled to receive future security patches automatically
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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-2022-34236 — 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-2022-34236 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
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