Introduction
Attackers can exploit a single malicious PDF to gain code execution on endpoints running vulnerable versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader. With Acrobat Reader deployed on hundreds of millions of systems globally, this vulnerability presents a significant risk to both enterprises and individuals who rely on PDF workflows for daily operations.
Technical Information
CVE-2025-54257 is a Use After Free vulnerability (CWE-416) in Adobe Acrobat Reader. The vulnerability exists because the application continues to reference memory after it has been freed, specifically when processing certain PDF structures. An attacker can craft a malicious PDF file that triggers this condition, resulting in the application accessing or executing data from freed memory. If the attacker can control the contents of the freed memory, this can lead to arbitrary code execution within the context of the current user.
The exploitation process requires user interaction: the victim must open the malicious PDF file. The attacker manipulates the heap layout so that attacker-controlled data is placed in the freed memory region. When the vulnerable code path is triggered, the application may execute attacker-supplied code. This vulnerability affects both Windows and macOS versions of Acrobat Reader.
No public code snippets or detailed exploit chains have been released for this vulnerability as of the publication date.
Affected Systems and Versions
- Adobe Acrobat Reader 24.001.30254 and earlier
- Adobe Acrobat Reader 20.005.30774 and earlier
- Adobe Acrobat Reader 25.001.20672 and earlier
All configurations of these versions are vulnerable if they process untrusted PDF files.
Vendor Security History
Adobe has a long history of memory corruption vulnerabilities in Acrobat Reader, especially Use After Free bugs in the PDF rendering engine. In 2025 alone, several similar vulnerabilities have been reported and patched. Adobe maintains a regular patch cycle and coordinates with security researchers and vendors to address these issues. The recurrence of such vulnerabilities highlights ongoing challenges with secure memory management in complex document parsing code.