CVE-2025-47111 is a NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability (CWE-476) identified in multiple versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader, specifically versions 24.001.30235, 20.005.30763, 25.001.20521 and earlier. This vulnerability arises when the application attempts to dereference a null pointer, which leads to an application crash and results in a denial-of-service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability requires user interaction, as exploitation depends on a victim opening a specially crafted malicious PDF file. Upon opening such a file, the application encounters the null pointer dereference, causing it to terminate unexpectedly. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 5.5, indicating a medium severity level. The attack vector is local (AV:L), meaning the attacker must have local access or the victim must perform an action (opening the file). The attack complexity is low (AC:L), no privileges are required (PR:N), but user interaction is necessary (UI:R). The impact is limited to availability (A:H), with no confidentiality or integrity impact. There are no known exploits in the wild at the time of publication, and no patches have been linked yet. This vulnerability primarily affects the availability of the Acrobat Reader application, potentially disrupting workflows that rely on it for viewing PDF documents.

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability could manifest as disruption of business operations that depend on Adobe Acrobat Reader for document handling. Given that Acrobat Reader is widely used across various sectors including government, finance, legal, and education, a denial-of-service caused by this vulnerability could interrupt critical document processing tasks. Although the vulnerability does not compromise confidentiality or integrity, the availability impact could lead to productivity losses, especially in environments where PDF documents are integral to daily operations. In sectors with strict compliance and audit requirements, repeated application crashes might also raise concerns about operational reliability. However, since exploitation requires user interaction and opening a malicious file, the risk is somewhat mitigated by user awareness and existing email/file scanning controls. The absence of known exploits in the wild reduces immediate threat levels but does not eliminate the risk of targeted attacks or future exploit development.

Organizations should implement specific mitigations beyond generic advice: 1) Enforce strict email and file attachment scanning policies to detect and quarantine suspicious PDF files before reaching end users. 2) Educate users about the risks of opening unsolicited or unexpected PDF documents, emphasizing caution with files from unknown or untrusted sources. 3) Deploy application whitelisting or sandboxing techniques for Acrobat Reader to contain potential crashes and prevent system-wide impact. 4) Monitor application logs for frequent Acrobat Reader crashes that could indicate exploitation attempts. 5) Maintain an inventory of Acrobat Reader versions deployed and plan for rapid patching once Adobe releases an official fix. 6) Consider alternative PDF readers with robust security features in high-risk environments until the vulnerability is patched. 7) Implement endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to identify anomalous behaviors related to Acrobat Reader crashes.