dbcve.org
FramemakerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2025-54232

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 · moderate confidence

This is a Use After Free (UAF) vulnerability in Adobe Framemaker where memory is improperly managed after being freed, allowing an attacker to manipulate heap memory and achieve arbitrary code execution. The attack requires the victim to open a specially crafted malicious file, typically delivered via email or compromised websites.

MitigationApply vendor patches when released by Adobe. Until then, exercise extreme caution with files from untrusted sources and consider deploying additional email/network filtering for Framemaker documents.

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 by looking for the Framemaker application in installed programs or by locating the Framemaker executable (framemaker.exe) in typical installation directories such as C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Framemaker or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Framemaker
    Affected if Adobe Framemaker is present on the system
  2. Determine installed Framemaker version
    Open Adobe Framemaker and navigate to Help > About Adobe Framemaker to display the exact version number, or right-click on the framemaker.exe file, select Properties, and view the Details tab for version information
    Affected if The installed version is less than 2020.9, or greater than or equal to 2022 but less than 2022.7
  3. Confirm file handling exposure
    Verify that Framemaker is configured to open .fm files or can process documents from external sources. Check file associations for .fm extension and ensure the application can process documents delivered via email or downloaded from websites
    Affected if Framemaker can open or process .fm document files from any source, making it susceptible to malicious file delivery
  4. Audit recent Framemaker document activity
    Review recent file access logs, email attachments received, or download history for .fm files that may have been opened with Framemaker. Check browser download folders and email client attachment folders for .fm files from untrusted sources
    Affected if Any .fm files from untrusted or unknown sources have been opened with Adobe Framemaker

A user is affected if Adobe Framemaker is installed and the version falls below 2020.9 or is between 2022.0 and 2022.6 inclusive, and the application is used to open documents 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 2020.9 / 2022.7 or later
Fixed in 2020.92022.7
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor patches when released by Adobe. Until then, exercise extreme caution with files from untrusted sources and consider deploying additional email/network filtering for Framemaker documents.

Recommended fix High confidence

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

  1. Identify your current Adobe Framemaker version by opening the application and going to Help > About Adobe Framemaker
  2. If running version 2020.x (2020.8 or earlier): Upgrade to Adobe Framemaker 2020.9 or later
  3. If running version 2022.x (2022.6 or earlier): Upgrade to Adobe Framemaker 2022.7 or later
  4. Download the updated version from the official Adobe website or through your organization's software distribution channel
  5. Ensure any custom plugins or extensions are compatible with the new version before deploying
  6. After upgrading, verify the version by checking Help > About Adobe Framemaker to confirm the security patch is applied
Caveat Standard upgrade considerations apply - verify compatibility of existing documents, templates, and third-party plugins with the new version before production deployment

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
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-54232 — 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-2025-54232 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