CVE-2022-34220
Published: 15 July 2022
Summary
CVE-2022-34220 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).
Operationally, ranked in the top 19.5% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis
Adobe Acrobat Reader versions 22.001.20142 and earlier, 20.005.30334 and earlier, and 17.012.30229 and earlier are affected by a Use After Free vulnerability tracked as CVE-2022-34220 and CWE-416. The flaw can lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 7.8.
An attacker can exploit the issue by supplying a malicious file that the victim must open, after which code runs locally with the privileges of the logged-in user. No additional authentication or remote vector is required beyond convincing the target to open the crafted document.
Adobe’s advisory APSB22-32, referenced at helpx.adobe.com, addresses the vulnerability through updated builds that remediate the use-after-free condition; users are advised to install the patches for the affected release trains.
The EPSS score rose from a low baseline to a peak of 0.1355 on 2025-01-22 before receding to the current value of 0.0134, indicating that exploitation interest increased well after the original 2022 disclosure.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2022-37189
Vulnerability details
Adobe Acrobat Reader versions 22.001.20142 (and earlier), 20.005.30334 (and earlier) and 17.012.30229 (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…
more
requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Use-after-free exploits that achieve arbitrary code execution are blocked or significantly hardened by non-executable pages and ASLR.