Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This vulnerability lets a malicious PDF potentially run code when opened in affected Adobe Acrobat Reader DC versions. It requires user interaction, so the main business risk is staff opening externally supplied PDFs on unpatched endpoints.
Executive priority
Treat as a high-priority endpoint patching issue. The vulnerability needs user interaction, but PDF phishing is common and successful exploitation could compromise the user's data and system privileges.
Technical view
CVE-2022-27791 is a CWE-121 stack-based buffer overflow in Acrobat Reader DC font processing. A crafted PDF can trigger arbitrary code execution in the current user's context. CVSS is 7.8 high with local attack vector and required user interaction.
Likely exposure
Organizations using Acrobat Reader DC 22.001.20085 and earlier, 20.005.3031x and earlier, or 17.012.30205 and earlier are potentially exposed, especially on endpoints that receive external PDFs.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. Exploitation requires a victim to open a crafted PDF, making phishing, document exchange, and web-delivered PDFs relevant scenarios.
Researcher notes
Evidence is sufficient for affected product family, vulnerability class, impact, and user-interaction requirement. The source bundle does not provide exploit availability, detailed fixed-version data, or defensive detections, so validation should stay tied to Adobe guidance.
Mitigation direction
- Apply Adobe security updates or current vendor guidance for APSB22-16.
- Prioritize endpoints that process external or unsolicited PDFs.
- Limit opening untrusted PDFs on affected systems until remediated.
- Remove or upgrade unsupported Acrobat Reader DC tracks where found.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Acrobat Reader DC versions across managed endpoints.
- Compare installed versions against the affected version thresholds.
- Confirm remediation status against Adobe APSB22-16 or current Adobe guidance.
- Review whether high-risk users regularly receive external PDFs.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-121: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupExecution behavior lookup
The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2022-27791 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 7.8 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.85.9adobeVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
7.8HighVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/acrobat/apsb22-16.htmlCVE reference, adobe · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Stack-based Buffer Overflow
Stack-based Buffer Overflow represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.