dbcve.org
FramemakerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-21622

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-02-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2020.0.4 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
FrameMaker 2020 Update 4 (and earlier), 2022 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds write 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 · high confidence

Adobe FrameMaker contains an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in its file parsing logic. When a user opens a specially crafted malicious FrameMaker document (.fm, .mif, or related formats), the application writes data beyond the boundaries of an allocated memory buffer, leading to memory corruption that can be leveraged for arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied security patch from Adobe when available. Until then, enforce user awareness to refrain from opening FrameMaker documents from untrusted or unknown sources, and consider deploying additional email/file-based detection controls for malicious document attachments.

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
FramemakerApplication
Affected:<= 2020.0.4= 2022

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. Verify Adobe FrameMaker installation
    Check for Adobe FrameMaker in the system by searching for framemaker.exe in Program Files directories or using system inventory tools. On Windows, check Registry keys under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\FrameMaker or HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Adobe\FrameMaker for installed instances.
    Affected if Adobe FrameMaker is found installed on the system
  2. Determine installed FrameMaker version
    Open Adobe FrameMaker and navigate to Help > About Adobe FrameMaker to display the exact version number. Alternatively, check the Windows Registry under the FrameMaker registry key for the Version value.
    Affected if Installed version is either 2022 (any update) or 2020.0.4 or earlier
  3. Compare against affected version ranges
    Match your discovered version against the affected ranges: versions 2020.0.4 and earlier, or version 2022 (any 2022.x release).
    Affected if Version matches <= 2020.0.4 or equals 2022 (any patch level)
  4. Identify vulnerable file type handlers
    Check for file associations with .fm and .mif extensions registered to Adobe FrameMaker. These file types trigger the parsing logic that contains the out-of-bounds write flaw.
    Affected if File associations exist for .fm or .mif extensions pointing to FrameMaker executable
  5. Review recent document activity
    Examine recent files opened by FrameMaker or check Windows Prefetch and jump lists for evidence of .fm or .mif files being opened from untrusted locations.
    Affected if User has recently opened .fm or .mif files, especially from untrusted or unknown sources

A user is affected if Adobe FrameMaker version 2022 (any update) or 2020.0.4 or earlier is installed and the application is used to open documents, particularly .fm or .mif files from untrusted sources.

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 2020.0.4
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied security patch from Adobe when available. Until then, enforce user awareness to refrain from opening FrameMaker documents from untrusted or unknown sources, and consider deploying additional email/file-based detection controls for malicious document attachments.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

FrameMaker 2020 Update 5 or later; FrameMaker 2022 Update 1 or later

  1. 1. Determine your current FrameMaker version by opening FrameMaker and navigating to Help > About Adobe FrameMaker
  2. 2. For FrameMaker 2020 users: Download and install FrameMaker 2020 Update 5 or later from the Adobe FrameMaker product page
  3. 3. For FrameMaker 2022 users: Download and install FrameMaker 2022 Update 1 or later from the Adobe FrameMaker product page
  4. 4. Alternatively, download the latest available version of FrameMaker from the Adobe website to ensure all security patches are included
  5. 5. After installation, verify the update was successful by checking the version in Help > About Adobe FrameMaker
  6. 6. Ensure your antivirus software is active before opening any files, as exploitation requires user interaction with malicious files

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

Fix this in Framemaker Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,440
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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-2023-21622 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