[German]In early November 2020, Adobe released a major security update for Adobe Acrobat/Adobe Reader DC. However, there are problems on SAP systems because displaying PDF documents in SAP software leads to long loading times or crashes. Addendum: Group Policy to disable the Protected Mode specified – so it works again.
Shortly after the publication of the article Adobe Reader/Acrobat: Important security update available (Nov. 3, 2020) I was asked about the problem on Twitter. German reader Phillip Scheerer asked:
Are you aware of any problems? We receive complaints about problems with displaying PDFs in SAP (long load time/crash SAP). After a RollBack, everything is immediately fine again.
I then asked for more details, which Phillip has now provided (thanks for that).
In the Adobe community there is this article, which addresses issues with the Adobe Reader DC 2020.013.20064 under SAP:
Adobe Reader DC 2020.013.20064 – error 103:103
Hi,
Since last adobe security patch when an app tries to open a pdf embedded into the own application (SAP) an error (103:103) is launched and no pdf is viewed.
We are running Windows 10 Version 10.0.19042 Build 19042 along with Adobe Acrobat Reader DC Version 2020.013.20064. Protected Mode in Adobe is disabled.
Does anyone know a solution for this?
The SAPGUI crashes (see following screenshot) and the Windows Event Viewer contains entries for crashes of SAPLOGON.exe
Here is an extract of the crash report that is displayed. There is an access violation in the AcroPDFImpl.dll file
Faulting application name: saplogon.exe, version: 7600.1.2.1156, time stamp: 0x5d3e2ccb
Faulting module name: AcroPDFImpl.dll_unloaded, version: 20.13.20064.12623, time stamp: 0x5f91f8a9
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x000447ab
Faulting process id: 0x1c2c
Faulting application start time: 0x01d6b8fd018817a2
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\SAP\FrontEnd\SAPgui\saplogon.exe
Faulting module path: AcroPDFImpl.dll
Report Id: 3315dad4-6e9f-4d83-ba5a-3c1f852af351
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:
The problem is confirmed by several users. Another Thead Adobe reader not printing from embedded print preview SAP in the Adobe forum also addresses the problem. There is a hint to switch off the Protected Mode in Adobe Reader DC for testing purposes:
Please try to turn off the protected mode for testing (Windows only) and see if that helps. Go to Edit > Preferences > Enhanced Security > Uncheck 'Enable Protected mode at start up' , turn off the protected mode and uncheck Enhanced Security > Click OK and reboot the computer.
Note: Turning off the security may possess security risks, please turn on the security after testing.
The user in question confirms that printing will then work, albeit more slowly. However, switching off Protected Mode reduces security. The error is also addressed here. The Adobe Reader DC 2020.013.20048 works against it. This concerns SAPGUI 7.40 to 7.60.
Workaround via Group Policy
Addendum: Phillipp Scheerer told me on Twitter that the IT department had to switch off the 'protected mode' for compatibility reasons. For this purpose there is a group policy, which is stored in the following key:
HKLM\SW\Policies\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\DC\FeatureLockDown
Change the 32-bit DWORD registry entry bProtectedMode = 0 to 1 Then the PDF loads as expected.
