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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2022-35668

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-08-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 22.001.20169 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 an Improper Input Validation 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 confidence

Adobe Acrobat Reader contains an improper input validation vulnerability that allows disclosure of sensitive memory contents. An attacker can craft a malicious PDF file that, when opened by a victim, leaks memory information enabling bypass of ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) security mitigation.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest patched version beyond 22.001.20169, 20.005.30362, and 17.012.30249. Additionally, educate users to avoid opening untrusted PDF files from unknown 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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    Open Windows Settings > Apps & Features, or on macOS check /Applications folder, for entries named Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader
    Affected if No Adobe Acrobat or Reader installation found means not affected by this CVE
  2. Determine the installed product version
    In Adobe Acrobat/Reader, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat). The version number appears in the format like 22.001.20169
    Affected if Unable to determine version means affected status cannot be assessed via this check alone
  3. Compare your version against affected ranges for Acrobat/Reader DC
    For DC products (2022-2023 track): Check if version falls between 15.008.20082 and 22.001.20169 inclusive
    Affected if Version is within this range means the system is vulnerable to CVE-2022-35668
  4. Compare your version against affected ranges for Acrobat/Reader 2020
    For version 2020 products: Check if version falls between 20.001.30005 and 20.005.30362 inclusive
    Affected if Version is within this range means the system is vulnerable to CVE-2022-35668
  5. Compare your version against affected ranges for Acrobat/Reader 2017
    For version 2017 products: Check if version falls between 17.011.30059 and 17.012.30249 inclusive
    Affected if Version is within this range means the system is vulnerable to CVE-2022-35668

A user is affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed and the detected version falls within any of the listed vulnerable ranges (15.008.20082-22.001.20169, 20.001.30005-20.005.30362, or 17.011.30059-17.012.30249).

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 the latest patched version beyond 22.001.20169, 20.005.30362, and 17.012.30249. Additionally, educate users to avoid opening untrusted PDF files from unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Acrobat DC/Reader DC Continuous: 22.001.20193+ | Classic 2020: 20.005.30414+ | Classic 2017: 17.012.30253+

  1. Identify the installed Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader version from the Help > About menu
  2. Navigate to the Adobe Acrobat download page or use your organization's software distribution tool
  3. For Acrobat DC/Acrobat Reader DC (Continuous track): Upgrade to version 22.001.20193 or later
  4. For Acrobat DC/Acrobat Reader DC (Classic track 2020): Upgrade to version 20.005.30414 or later
  5. For Acrobat DC/Acrobat Reader DC (Classic track 2017): Upgrade to version 17.012.30253 or later
  6. Verify the update was applied successfully by checking Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader
  7. Restart the application after updating
Caveat Security update with no known functional breaking changes; standard Adobe update compatibility applies

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
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-2022-35668 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