dbcve.org
FramemakerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2025-54231

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2020.9 / 2022.7 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 Framemaker versions 2020.8, 2022.6 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 · high confidence

Adobe Framemaker versions 2020.8, 2022.6 and earlier contain a Use After Free vulnerability in the file parsing component. When a user opens a specially crafted malicious file, the attacker can exploit freed memory to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the current user.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Framemaker to the latest patched version. Until patched, advise users not to open untrusted or unsolicited files, and consider deploying additional email/file sandboxing controls.

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:< 2020.9>= 2022, < 2022.7

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 if Adobe Framemaker is installed on the system. On Windows, look in Program Files for an Adobe folder or check the Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe. On macOS, check the /Applications folder for Adobe Framemaker.app.
    Affected if Adobe Framemaker is found installed on the system
  2. Determine installed version number
    Open Adobe Framemaker and navigate to Help > About Adobe Framemaker to view the exact version. Alternatively, on Windows check the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\FrameMaker\Version for the installed version string.
    Affected if The exact version number can be retrieved from the application or system registry
  3. Compare version to affected ranges
    Compare your installed version against the known vulnerable ranges: version 2020.8 and any earlier 2020.x release (less than 2020.9), and versions 2022.0 through 2022.6 (greater than or equal to 2022 but less than 2022.7).
    Affected if Installed version is less than 2020.9 OR is greater than or equal to 2020.9 but less than 2022.7 while being version 2022.x or higher

A system is affected by this CVE if Adobe Framemaker is installed and the version falls within the vulnerable ranges: any version before 2020.9, or any version from 2022.0 through 2022.6.

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 2020.9 / 2022.7 or later
Fixed in 2020.92022.7
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Framemaker to the latest patched version. Until patched, advise users not to open untrusted or unsolicited files, and consider deploying additional email/file sandboxing controls.

Recommended fix High confidence

Framemaker 2020.9 or later for 2020.x line; Framemaker 2022.7 or later for 2022.x line

  1. Close Adobe Framemaker completely before updating
  2. If using Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop App, open it and navigate to the Framemaker application
  3. Click 'Update' or 'Install Update' to download and install the latest version
  4. Alternatively, visit helpx.adobe.com and download Framemaker 2020.9 (for 2020.x line users) or Framemaker 2022.7 (for 2022.x line users) or later from the official Adobe downloads page
  5. Run the installer and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the update
  6. After installation, verify the version by opening Framemaker and checking Help > About Adobe Framemaker
Caveat Standard minor version upgrade; review Adobe release notes for any changes to features or workflow

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

Fix this in Framemaker Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-54231 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2025-54231 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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