Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-64899

Memory Safety in Adobe Acrobat 20.001.3005 – 20.005.30838

Published
09 December 2025
Modified
12 December 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0043 36th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-64899 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125) vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Malicious File (T1204.002); ranked at the 36th 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 SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) and AC-6 (Least Privilege) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Acrobat Reader versions 24.001.30264, 20.005.30793, 25.001.20982, 24.001.30273, 20.005.30803 and earlier are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability when parsing a crafted file, which could result in a read past the end of an allocated memory structure. An attacker could leverage…

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this vulnerability to execute code 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)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1204.002 Malicious File Execution
An adversary may rely upon a user opening a malicious file in order to gain execution.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
Why these techniques?

Out-of-bounds read in Acrobat Reader when parsing a crafted file enables code execution in the current user's context, requiring the victim to open a malicious file (T1204.002). This is a client-side exploitation vector (T1203).

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-27161Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2026-47926Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2026-47923Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2024-39426Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2023-21585Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2023-44360Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2024-30280Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2023-38247Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2023-38244Same product: Adobe Acrobat
CVE-2024-34101Same product: Adobe Acrobat

Affected Assets

adobe
acrobat
20.001.3005 — 20.005.30838 · 24.001.20604 — 24.001.30307 · 24.001.20604 — 24.001.30308
adobe
acrobat dc
≤ 25.001.20997
adobe
acrobat reader
20.001.3005 — 20.005.30838
adobe
acrobat reader dc
≤ 25.001.20997

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
  • SI-3 Malicious Code Protection
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)
  • SI-3 Malicious Code Protection
Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly requires timely installation of vendor patches that remediate the out-of-bounds read flaw in Acrobat Reader's PDF parser.

preventdetect

Malicious-code protection mechanisms can block or alert on crafted PDF files that trigger the parser vulnerability before execution occurs.

prevent

Least-privilege execution of Acrobat Reader limits the impact of successful code execution resulting from the out-of-bounds read.

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-development practices such as bounds checking and memory-safe languages directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover instances of out-of-bounds reads after code is deployed.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing out-of-bounds read flaws.

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.

detects

Security testing in development and acceptance includes fuzzing and static analysis that detect out-of-bounds read defects before release.

A.8.15 Logging partial match
detects

Logging can record evidence of an out-of-bounds read but does not prevent the weakness itself.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and bounds checking that directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.

prevents

Application security requirements include explicit bounds and memory-safety specifications that mitigate buffer over-reads.

prevents

Secure system architecture and engineering principles require memory-safe design patterns and runtime protections against out-of-bounds access.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe pointer arithmetic and mandate bounds-checked reads, eliminating CWE-125.

References