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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2022-35665

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-08-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 22.001.20169 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 22.001.20169 (and earlier), 20.005.30362 (and earlier) and 17.012.30249 (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 · moderate confidence

Adobe Acrobat Reader contains a Use After Free vulnerability where memory is accessed after being freed, allowing arbitrary code execution in the current user's context. The vulnerability is triggered when a victim opens a specially crafted malicious PDF file.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version newer than 22.001.20169, 20.005.30362, and 17.012.30249. Additionally, educate users to avoid 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, <= 22.001.20169
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.008.20082, <= 22.001.20169
AcrobatApplication
Affected:>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30362>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.012.30249
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30362>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.012.30249

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 the installed Adobe product
    Open Adobe Acrobat or Reader, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or similar About menu item) to view the exact version number and product name (Acrobat Dc, Acrobat Reader Dc, Acrobat, or Acrobat Reader).
    Affected if The product is Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader of any version.
  2. Determine the exact version number
    Note the full version number displayed in the About dialog. Look for the 3-part version such as 22.001.20169 or 20.005.30362.
    Affected if A version number is displayed.
  3. Check if Acrobat Dc/Reader Dc version is affected
    If using Acrobat Dc or Acrobat Reader Dc, compare the installed version against the range 15.008.20082 through 22.001.20169. Versions at or above 15.008.20082 and at or below 22.001.20169 are affected.
    Affected if The version falls within >= 15.008.20082 AND <= 22.001.20169.
  4. Check if Acrobat/Reader version 20.x is affected
    If using Acrobat or Acrobat Reader version 20.x, compare the installed version against the range 20.001.30005 through 20.005.30362.
    Affected if The version falls within >= 20.001.30005 AND <= 20.005.30362.
  5. Check if Acrobat/Reader version 17.x is affected
    If using Acrobat or Acrobat Reader version 17.x, compare the installed version against the range 17.011.30059 through 17.012.30249.
    Affected if The version falls within >= 17.011.30059 AND <= 17.012.30249.
  6. Verify if PDF files can be opened
    Confirm that the application is configured to open PDF files. This vulnerability requires a user to open a specially crafted malicious PDF file for exploitation.
    Affected if PDF file handling is enabled and users can open PDF documents.

The environment is affected if Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader is installed with a version number matching any of the three affected ranges (15.008.20082-22.001.20169, 20.001.30005-20.005.30362, or 17.011.30059-17.012.30249) and users can 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 22.001.20169
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat Reader to a version newer than 22.001.20169, 20.005.30362, and 17.012.30249. Additionally, educate users to avoid opening PDF files from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Adobe Acrobat Reader DC / Acrobat DC version 22.002.x or later (or the latest available version). For legacy product lines, upgrade to 20.006.x or later, and 17.013.x or later.

  1. 1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat on your system.
  2. 2. Navigate to Help > Check for Updates (or use the Help menu in your specific version).
  3. 3. Allow Adobe to check for and install any available updates.
  4. 4. Alternatively, download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC from the official Adobe website: https://get.adobe.com/reader/
  5. 5. For Adobe Acrobat Pro/Standard, download the latest version from https://get.adobe.com/acrobat/
  6. 6. After updating, verify the version by going to Help > About Adobe Acrobat [Reader] to confirm you are on a version newer than 22.001.20169, 20.005.30362, or 17.012.30249.
Caveat Standard Adobe update process carries minimal risk; ensure you back up any important documents before updating.

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
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,090
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2022-35665 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