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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2022-35678

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 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

Out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader allows a malicious PDF file to read sensitive memory contents beyond allocated buffers when opened by a victim. This can expose memory contents that may aid in bypassing ASLR and other memory protection mitigations.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest patched version beyond 22.001.20169, 20.005.30362, and 17.012.30249. Avoid opening untrusted or unexpected 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, <= 22.001.20169
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. Identify if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    On Windows, check the installed programs list or look for AcroRd32.exe (Reader) or AcroTray.exe (Acrobat) in Program Files. On macOS, check /Applications for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader.
    Affected if Either product is present on the system
  2. Locate the installed version of Adobe Acrobat or Reader
    On Windows, check the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\InstallVersion for 'Version' or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{AC76BA86-7AD7-XXXX-XXXX-ABCDEFGHIJKL} for the version string. On macOS, right-click the app in /Applications and select Get Info to view the version.
    Affected if The installed version cannot be determined or is not visible
  3. Compare your installed version against the affected ranges
    Check if your version falls within: 15.008.20082 to 22.001.20169 (DC versions); 20.001.30005 to 20.005.30362 (2020 versions); 17.011.30059 to 17.012.30249 (2017 versions).
    Affected if The installed version number is within any of these ranges
  4. Confirm the vulnerable component is accessible
    Verify that PDF files can be opened with the installed Adobe Acrobat Reader. Attempt to open a standard PDF file using the installed application to confirm the software is functional and not a stripped-down version.
    Affected if PDFs can be opened and the application is fully functional

You are affected if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed and its version falls within the ranges 15.008.20082-22.001.20169, 20.001.30005-20.005.30362, or 17.011.30059-17.012.30249, and you open a malicious 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 22.001.20169
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest patched version beyond 22.001.20169, 20.005.30362, and 17.012.30249. Avoid opening untrusted or unexpected PDF files.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC / Adobe Acrobat DC 22.001.20170 or later (Classic 2020 track: 20.005.30363 or later, or 17.012.30250 or later)

  1. 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)
  2. 2. Close all Adobe applications completely
  3. 3. Download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC from the official Adobe website (get.adobe.com/reader) or Adobe Acrobat from the official Adobe website (get.adobe.com/acrobat)
  4. 4. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the upgrade
  5. 5. Restart your computer after installation completes
  6. 6. Verify the new version by checking Help > About to confirm you are running a version newer than 22.001.20169, 20.005.30362, or 17.012.30249 depending on your product track
Caveat Upgrading Adobe Acrobat may require accepting new license terms; some enterprise deployments may need IT administrator coordination for update rollout

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

We can identify the exact fixed release, upgrade, and verify it in staging — typical engagement from $2,850. Get the upgrade done

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-2022-35678 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