Adobe Acrobat Microsoft Edge Extension

General Information

Technologies must be operated and maintained in accordance with Federal and Department security and privacy policies and guidelines. More information on the proper use of the TRM can be found on the TRM Proper Use Tab/Section.

Website:	Go to site
Description:	Adobe Acrobat extension for Microsoft Edge allows the user to document tasks by allowing the user to interact with Acrobat directly from within Microsoft Edge.
Technology/Standard Usage Requirements:	Users must ensure their use of this technology/standard is consistent with VA policies and standards, including, but not limited to, VA Handbooks 6102 and 6500; VA Directives 6004, 6513, and 6517; and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards, including Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). Users must ensure sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. Prior to use of this technology, users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Officer (ISO), Facility Chief Information Officer (CIO), or local Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) representative to ensure that all actions are consistent with current VA policies and procedures prior to implementation.
Section 508 Information:	This technology has not been assessed by the Section 508 Office. The Implementer of this technology has the responsibility to ensure the version deployed is 508-compliant. Section 508 compliance may be reviewed by the Section 508 Office and appropriate remedial action required if necessary. For additional information or assistance regarding Section 508, please contact the Section 508 Office at Section508@va.gov.
Decision:	View Decisions

Decision Source:	TRM Mgmt Group
Decision Process:	One-VA TRM v23.1
Decision Date:	01/03/2023 at 08:08:41 UTC
Aliases:	Adobe Acrobat extension for Microsoft Edge on Windows
Introduced By:	TRM Request
Vendor Name:	Adobe

Vendor Release Information

The Vendor Release table provides the known releases for the TRM Technology, obtained from the vendor (or from the release source).

Version	Release Date	Vendor End of Life Date	Vendor Desupport Date
15.x	11/03/2022

Current Decision Matrix (12/27/2022)

Users must ensure their use of this technology/standard is consistent with VA policies and standards, including, but not limited to, VA Handbooks 6102 and 6500; VA Directives 6004, 6513, and 6517; and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards, including Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). Users must ensure sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. Prior to use of this technology, users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Officer (ISO), Facility Chief Information Officer (CIO), or local Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) representative to ensure that all actions are consistent with current VA policies and procedures prior to implementation.

The VA Decision Matrix displays the current and future VA IT position regarding different releases of a TRM entry. These decisions are based upon the best information available as of the most current date. The consumer of this information has the responsibility to consult the organizations responsible for the desktop, testing, and/or production environments to ensure that the target version of the technology will be supported. Any major.minor version that is not listed in the VA Decision Matrix is considered unapproved for use.

Legend:

White	Approved: The technology/standard has been approved for use.
Yellow	Approved w/Constraints: The technology/standard can be used within the specified constraints located below the decision matrix in the footnote[1] and on the General tab.
Gray	Unapproved: This technology or standard can be used only if a POA&M review is conducted and signed by the Authorizing Official Designated Representative (AODR) as designated by the Authorizing Official (AO) or designee and based upon a recommendation from the POA&M Compliance Enforcement, has been granted to the project team or organization that wishes to use the technology.
Orange	Divest: VA has decided to divest itself on the use of the technology/standard. As a result, all projects currently utilizing the technology/standard must plan to eliminate their use of the technology/standard. Additional information on when the entry is projected to become unapproved may be found on the Decision tab for the specific entry.
Black	Prohibited: The technology/standard is not (currently) permitted to be used under any circumstances.
Blue	Planning/Evaluation Constraint:The period of time this technology is currently being evaluated, reviewed, and tested in controlled environments. Use of this technology is strictly controlled and not available for use within the general population. If a customer would like to use this technology, please work with your local or Regional OI&T office and contact the appropriate evaluation office displayed in the notes below the decision matrix. The Local or Regional OI&T office should submit an inquiry to the TRM if they require further assistance or if the evaluating office is not listed in the notes below.

Release/Version Information:

VA decisions for specific versions may include a ‘.x’ wildcard, which denotes a decision that pertains to a range of multiple versions.

For example, a technology approved with a decision for 7.x would cover any version of 7.(Anything) - 7.(Anything). However, a 7.4.x decision would cover any version of 7.4.(Anything), but would not cover any version of 7.5.x or 7.6.x on the TRM.

VA decisions for specific versions may include ‘+’ symbols; which denotes that the decision for the version specified also includes versions greater than what is specified but is not to exceed or affect previous decimal places.

For example, a technology approved with a decision for 12.6.4+ would cover any version that is greater than 12.6.4, but would not exceed the .6 decimal ie: 12.6.401 is ok, 12.6.5 is ok, 12.6.9 is ok, however 12.7.0 or 13.0 is not.

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15.x

Approved w/Constraints
[1, 2, 3, 4]

Decision Constraints


[1]	Per the Security Assessment Review, users must abide by the following constraints: The Adobe Acrobat PDF edit, convert, sign tools Browser Extension dependencies are outdated and pose a security risk to VA data. VA systems using this browserextension will be more vulnerable to Ransomware attacks, malware and data breaches. All findings in section VI, related to the outdated version of jquery, must be remediated prior to using the browser extension. The Adobe Acrobat PDF edit, convert, sign tools Browser Extension uses permissions that may not be necessary for the extension to function. Two critical, two high, and four medium risk permissions were noted. It is advised that permissions are verified with the developer and removed if they are not absolutely necessary for the extension to function. Using permissions that are not essential to the extension’s functionality expose the system, using the Adobe Acrobat PDF edit, convert, sign tools Browser Extension, to potential vulnerabilities and addition risk that could otherwise be avoided by disabling nonessential permissions.

[2]	Users should check with their supervisor, Information System Security Officer (ISSO) or local OIT representative for permission to download and use this software. Downloaded software must always be scanned for viruses prior to installation to prevent adware or malware. Freeware may only be downloaded directly from the primary site that the creator of the software has advertised for public download and user or development community engagement. Users should note, any attempt by the installation process to install any additional, unrelated software is not approved and the user should take the proper steps to decline those installations.

[3]	Technology must remain patched and operated in accordance with Federal and Department security policies and guidelines in order to mitigate known and future security vulnerabilities.

[4]	Browser plug-ins and extensions may only be installed by VA IT Operations (ITOPS) and must be used with official VA browser installation packages that are managed by ITOPS. For installation, contact the National Service Desk [Mail Group: National Service Desk - Austin]. Browser extensions must be kept up to date with security patches and enhancements.

Note:

At the time of writing, version 15.1.3.28 is the most current version, released 11/03/2022.

References

The following reference(s) are associated with this entry:
Type	Name	Source	Description
Other	Adobe Acrobat: PDF Edit, Convert, Sign Tools		This link provides the current version of Adobe Acrobat for Microsoft Edge.

Technology Components

Note: This list may not be complete. No component, listed or unlisted, may be used outside of the technology in which it is released. The usage decision for a component is found in the Decision and Decision Constraints.
Name	Description
No components have been identified for this entry.

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Domain Area	Category	Customer Guidance	Category Locked By ELT Date
Collaboration and Electronic Workplace Collaboration Software	Content Management
Collaboration and Electronic Workplace Productivity Software	Desktop Publishing

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

macOS - Approved w/Constraints
Windows Client - Approved w/Constraints
Windows Server - Approved w/Constraints

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

No runtime dependencies have been identified.

Comparable Technologies:

Adobe Acrobat for Microsoft Teams

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

No companion technologies/standards have been identified.

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

At the time of writing, no National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) vulnerabilities had been reported and no VA Cyber Security Operations Center (CSOC) bulletins had been issued for the latest versions of this technology.
This is a mature technology.
This technology may improve productivity for specific staff whose responsibilities include sharing and editing Portable Document Format (PDF) files while using Microsoft Edge.
There is no licensing fee associated with this technology.

Adoption Risks

Vulnerability scans discovered findings from permissions:
- Critical:
- < all_urls > Matches any URL that uses a permitted scheme.
- webRequest- Gives the extension access to the chrome.webRequest API.
Vulnerability scans discovered findings from permissions:
- High:
- history - Gives your extension access to the chrome.history API.
- tabs - Gives the extension access to privileged fields of the Tabobjects used by several APIs including chrome.tabs and chrome.windows. In many circumstances the extension will not need to declare the "tabs" permission to make use of these APIs.
Vulnerability scans discovered findings from permissions:
- Medium:
- storage - Gives the extension access to the chrome.storage API.
- downloads - Gives the extension access to the chrome.downloads API.
- nativeMessaging - Gives your extension access to the native messaging API.
- webNavigation - Gives the extension access to the chrome.webNavigation API.
This technology is a browser plug-in or extension. Proper analysis must be conducted on this technology.
Due to the rapid release schedule of this technology, the VA may be unable to update to the most recent patch and may require a deployment model requiring the use of specific versions.
This technology is available as freeware. As such this technology may be without clearly defined support options which may result in suboptimal enterprise level support.

Architectural Benefits

This technology is portable as it runs on multiple TRM-approved operating systems.
This technology is compatible with multiple other Technical Reference Model (TRM) technologies and standards used by the organization.

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General Information

Vendor Release Information

Current Decision Matrix (12/27/2022)

Decision Constraints

References

Technology Components

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

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VA Technical Reference Model v 24.7

General Information

Vendor Release Information

Current Decision Matrix (12/27/2022)

Decision Constraints

References

Technology Components

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

Adoption Risks

Architectural Benefits

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