WARNING! Windows 10 10586 upgrade - encrypted PDF docs viewable without need to enter password!

[OJAS]

Ever since I installed this update last week, I have noticed, rather disconcertingly, that I have been able to open my password-protected PDF docs without the need to enter the password first! This only happens when I open the PDF through Windows 10: when I open it with Adobe Acrobat Reader I am still prompted for the password in the normal way. Even so, the fact that there now appears to exist one channel at least of opening an encrypted PDF without the need to enter its password first sounds rather disturbing, to put it mildly!

The only solution I have been able to come up with is to redact the sensitive info in the PDF - which, in some cases, involves printing off the doc, physically obliterating the sensitive info and then rescanning it. However, might there exist a simpler (electronic) means of achieving this end? I certainly did not experience this problem after I had originally installed Windows 10 4 months ago - it has only become apparent since the 10586 upgrade.

Edited November 26, 2015 by OJAS

[RichCor]

What 'app' is being used to open the password protected .pdf files?

On my Windows 10 PC, I don't have Acrobat loaded (as I usually just use Google to view non-protected .pdf files online. If that's not available then my Windows 10 will open the file in Microsoft EDGE that has the ability to remember/store entered passwords.

[Chicog]

If you can open them without a password, they are not properly encrypted.

And since it is a PDF file, it has nothing to do with Windows per se.

What application was used to create/protect them, and what application to open them unencrypted? The default Windows PDF viewer?

I would dumb Adobe anything, it's all a pile of flaw-strewn rubbish.

(And I don't care if anyone likes photoshop or anything else; have it).

Edited November 26, 2015 by Chicog

[Pib]

Apparently this is nothing really new based on my brief googling....like this link talking about the browser Edge opening password protected PDFs without asking for a password....this was way before 10586 was released. Appears to have something to do with using a Owner "and" User PDF password to ensure a password is required/asked for when being opened...if only using a User password the PDF might still open without being asked for a password. Seems to be proper settings of passwords when creating a PDF document more than anything else.

https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1930519

[Digitalbanana]

Suppose it depends on the PDF generating software being used in the first place - the o/p doesn't say??

When I save a password protected PDF file with Adobe Acrobat Pro DC and then try open the PDF with other softwares in Win10 such as Edge, Word etc each asks for a password.

* Just did it for the sake of interest however as there are PDF password removers out there as well, I use VeryPDF PDF Password Remover to this end as I hate it when people send me password protected PDF files / forms to complete with a pen.

Edited November 27, 2015 by Digitalbanana

[RichCor]

and as Chicog pointed out, Password Protected does not mean Encrypted, as Digitalbanana points out, some Password Protection can be removed from the file or bypass when using a 3rd-party render app.

[dageurreotype]

There's a problem with their privacy, happy I chose not to 'update' and stuck with 7.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/windows-10-november-update-privacy/?&utm_term=DT%20Newsletter

Edited November 28, 2015 by dageurreotype