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FramemakerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2025-54281

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-10-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2020.10 / 2022.8 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 2020.9, 2022.7 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 contains a Use After Free (UAF) vulnerability where memory is accessed after being freed, potentially allowing an attacker to control freed memory and achieve arbitrary code execution. The attack vector requires the victim to open a specially crafted malicious file.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Framemaker to the latest patched version provided by Adobe. Until patched, advise users to avoid opening files from untrusted sources.

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:< 2020.10>= 2022, < 2022.8

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 is installed
    On Windows, check for the presence of the Adobe Framemaker installation directory (typically under C:\Program Files\Adobe\) or look for the application in Add/Remove Programs. On macOS, check /Applications for Adobe Framemaker.app.
    Affected if Adobe Framemaker is not installed on the system
  2. Retrieve the installed Framemaker version
    Windows: Open the Windows Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Framemaker or HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Framemaker, then locate the Version or ProductVersion string value. Alternatively, right-click the Framemaker executable in Program Files, select Properties, and check the Details tab for Product Version.
    Affected if Unable to determine the installed version number
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    The affected versions are: any version before 2020.10 (such as 2020.0 through 2020.9.x), and any version from 2022.0 through 2022.7.x. Compare your installed version number to these ranges. Note that version 2020.10 and later (including all 2021.x releases) and version 2022.8 and later are NOT affected.
    Affected if The installed version falls within < 2020.10 OR >= 2022.0 and < 2022.8

Your environment is affected if Adobe Framemaker is installed and the version number is either below 2020.10 or between 2022.0 and 2022.7 inclusive.

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 2020.10 / 2022.8 or later
Fixed in 2020.102022.8
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Framemaker to the latest patched version provided by Adobe. Until patched, advise users to avoid opening files from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Framemaker 2022.8 or later (or 2020.10+ for the 2020.x line)

  1. Check current Adobe Framemaker version by going to Help > About Adobe Framemaker
  2. If running version 2020.9 or earlier, or version 2022.0-2022.7, an upgrade is required
  3. Download Adobe Framemaker 2022.8 or later from the official Adobe website (helpx.adobe.com) or use the Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application
  4. Install the downloaded update following the on-screen prompts
  5. Restart Framemaker after installation completes
  6. Verify the new version by checking Help > About Adobe Framemaker

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

Fix this in Framemaker Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.

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-2025-54281 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