Local privilege escalation via uncontrolled uninstaller search path
Published May 11, 2022 · Updated May 27, 2026
Uncontrolled search path in affected Adobe Acrobat Reader releases allows local users to gain privileges through the uninstaller. The privileged uninstaller searches an uncontrolled path, but Adobe has not published the component name or path-order details. Exploitation requires an administrator to run the uninstaller, after which the attacker gains the uninstaller's elevated privileges.
Summary
What happened
Uncontrolled search path in affected Adobe Acrobat Reader releases allows local users to gain privileges through the uninstaller. The privileged uninstaller searches an uncontrolled path, but Adobe has not published the component name or path-order details. Exploitation requires an administrator to run the uninstaller, after which the attacker gains the uninstaller's elevated privileges.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-28247
- Published
- May 11, 2022
- Updated
- May 27, 2026
- Vendor
- Adobe
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
- Classifications
- CWE-427
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 11, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 27, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=unspecified <=17.012.30205
- Affected versionversion=unspecified <=20.005.3031x
- Affected versionversion=unspecified <=22.001.20085
- Affected versionversion=unspecified <=None
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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