Adobe Acrobat Reader

Adobe Acrobat Reader at a glance

Adobe Acrobat and Reader open PDF documents — files that routinely arrive from untrusted sources, which makes the PDF parser a well-worn attack vector. Adobe ships regular security updates (typically on Patch Tuesday) plus out-of-band fixes for actively exploited flaws.

For admins prompt patching is the point: PDF-handling vulnerabilities have been exploited in the wild, so keep Acrobat/Reader current across the fleet. Roll updates via the Adobe enterprise tooling, winget or the MSI; source only from Adobe. Restrict risky features (JavaScript in PDFs) via the admin controls where policy allows, and prefer the Protected Mode/sandbox. Older, unpatched Reader installs on shared machines are the classic weak spot — enforce a minimum version.