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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2022-35669

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-07-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 22.001.20142 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
Acrobat Reader versions 22.001.20142 (and earlier), 20.005.30334 (and earlier) and 20.005.30334 (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 confidence

Adobe Acrobat Reader contains an out-of-bounds read vulnerability where parsing a maliciously crafted PDF file allows an attacker to read sensitive memory contents beyond allocated buffers. This information disclosure can leak memory addresses, enabling bypass of ASLR mitigation and potentially facilitating further exploitation like arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest patched version (later than 22.001.20142 for Windows/macOS and later than 20.005.30334 for macOS). Until patched, warn users against opening untrusted PDF files.

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, <= 22.001.20142
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.008.20082, <= 22.001.20142
AcrobatApplication
Affected:>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30334>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30331>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.012.30229>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.012.30227
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30334>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.005.30331>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.012.30229>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.012.30227

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. Identify installed Adobe product
    Open Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat. Go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat). The product name (Reader vs Acrobat, DC vs standard) will be displayed in the title bar or about dialog.
    Affected if The installed product is Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat (any variant)
  2. Determine installed version number
    In the About dialog, note the exact version number displayed (for example, 22.001.20142 or 20.005.30334). Alternatively, on Windows check Programs and Features > Adobe Acrobat/Reader > Version column. On macOS check Applications folder > Get Info on the Adobe app.
    Affected if A version number is found that falls within the affected ranges: 15.008.20082 to 22.001.20142 for DC products; 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30334 or 20.005.30331 for 2020 versions; 17.011.30059 to 17.012.30229 or 17.012.30227 for 2017 versions
  3. Confirm vulnerable code path exists
    Verify the application can open and parse PDF files. The vulnerability triggers when opening a maliciously crafted PDF. If the application is installed with PDF parsing functionality enabled, the vulnerable code path exists.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat is installed with PDF parsing capability (default installation)
  4. Verify version against affected ranges
    Compare your installed version to the following ranges: Acrobat DC/Reader DC: 15.008.20082 through 22.001.20142; Acrobat/Reader 2020: 20.001.30005 through 20.005.30334 or 20.005.30331; Acrobat/Reader 2017: 17.011.30059 through 17.012.30229 or 17.012.30227. If your version falls within any of these ranges, the vulnerability is present.
    Affected if Installed version number is >= the lower bound AND <= the upper bound of any affected range

Your environment is affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat is installed with a version between the minimum and maximum bounds listed for your product line, since the vulnerable out-of-bounds read occurs when parsing any PDF file.

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 22.001.20142
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest patched version (later than 22.001.20142 for Windows/macOS and later than 20.005.30334 for macOS). Until patched, warn users against opening untrusted PDF files.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat/Reader Continuous track 22.002.x or later; Adobe Acrobat/Reader Classic 2020 (20.006.x) or later

  1. 1. Verify current Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader installation version by opening the application and navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader (or About Adobe Acrobat).
  2. 2. Download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader from the official Adobe website at get.adobe.com/reader or get.adobe.com/acrobat.
  3. 3. Close all running instances of Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader.
  4. 4. Run the downloaded installer and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation.
  5. 5. After installation completes, restart the computer if prompted.
  6. 6. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds the fixed releases (22.002.x or later for Continuous track, 20.006.x or later for Classic track).
Caveat Standard Adobe update; minimal risk of breaking changes for typical workflows, though verify critical PDF-dependent business processes after upgrade

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
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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-2022-35669 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