CVE-2025-27158

Memory Safety in Adobe Acrobat 20.001.30002 – 20.005.30763

Memory Safety

Published

11 March 2025

Modified

28 April 2025

Patch / advisory

View advisory

CVSS Score v3.1 7.8

Click a component to see what it means

Raw vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS Score 0.0045 37th percentile

Risk Priority 57 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2025-27158 is a high-severity Access of Uninitialized Pointer (CWE-824) vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 37th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-15 (Development Process, Standards, and Tools) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2025-27158 is an Access of Uninitialized Pointer vulnerability (CWE-824) affecting Adobe Acrobat Reader versions 24.001.30225, 20.005.30748, 25.001.20428, and earlier. The flaw enables arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. It carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) and was published on 2025-03-11.

Exploitation requires user interaction, as a victim must open a malicious file processed by the affected Acrobat Reader. An attacker with no privileges can deliver such a file through common vectors like email attachments or downloads, tricking the user into opening it to trigger the vulnerability and achieve arbitrary code execution under the current user's context.

Adobe Security Bulletin APSB25-14 and Talos Intelligence report TALOS-2025-2135 detail the issue and mitigation steps, including available patches for Acrobat Reader.

EU & UK References

🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-7734

Vulnerability Data

Acrobat Reader versions 24.001.30225, 20.005.30748, 25.001.20428 and earlier are affected by an Access of Uninitialized Pointer 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.

CWE(s): CWE-824

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation

Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.

attack.mitre.org →

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access

Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.

attack.mitre.org →

T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution

Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.

attack.mitre.org →

T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement

Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.

attack.mitre.org →

T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth

Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.

attack.mitre.org →

T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access

Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.

attack.mitre.org →

Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-38234Same product: Adobe Acrobat

CVE-2025-27162Same product: Adobe Acrobat

CVE-2023-44365Same product: Adobe Acrobat

CVE-2023-38246Same product: Adobe Acrobat

CVE-2023-38223Same product: Adobe Acrobat

CVE-2023-38226Same product: Adobe Acrobat

CVE-2023-44366Same product: Adobe Acrobat

CVE-2023-22240Same product: Adobe Acrobat

CVE-2023-22241Same product: Adobe Acrobat

CVE-2024-20727Same product: Adobe Acrobat

Affected Assets

adobe

acrobat

20.001.30002 — 20.005.30763 · 24.0.0 — 24.001.30235

adobe

acrobat dc

15.008.20082 — 25.001.20432

adobe

acrobat reader

20.001.30002 — 20.005.30763

adobe

acrobat reader dc

15.008.20082 — 25.001.20432

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation can discover uninitialized pointer accesses through static analysis, dynamic testing, or fuzzing before deployment.

SA-15 Development Process, Standards, and Tools partial match

Requiring documented development processes and tools enables use of analyzers or coding standards that identify uninitialized pointer defects.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Security engineering principles can mandate memory-safety practices and language choices that structurally avoid uninitialized pointer use.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match

prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent uninitialized pointer bugs via coding standards, analysis, and reviews, but eliminating this single weakness only partially fulfills the broader control.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match

finds

Security testing can detect uninitialized pointer usage before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates practices that reduce uninitialized pointer defects.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match

degrades

Application security requirements can specify pointer initialization rules.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match

degrades

Secure architecture principles discourage unsafe pointer handling.