Cannot open PDF in Adobe Reader on Android when opened from another application

Question

I've a strange issue here. A PDF won't open on my android mobile in Adobe Reader (version 19.9.1.10848) when accessed from a different application (like Gmail / Chrome / FireFox). The error message received is "The document cannot be opened because it is corrupted or damaged". However, if I download the PDF directly to the phone and then access the file directly, Adobe Reader has no issues opening the file.

If I select a different PDF application to access the file from Gmail / Chrome / Firefox, like Foxit PDF or Drive PDF Viewer, they have no issues opening the file directly. Just Adobe Reader shows this issue.

I have no problems opening the same file on desktop using Adobe Acrobat (19.021.20061).

Opening the PDF up on a text editor shows the correct opening characters `%PDF` are present with no bytes preceeding it.

Sample PDF in question.

Based on the testing I've done, it seems like there's a bug in Adobe Reader opening PDFs directly from other Apps, as it has no problem opening the PDF when accessed directly from the local storage.

jakej13387843 · Accepted Answer

After further testing, I can confirm this issue is only present with PDFs that have the security feature enabled which limits the user's privileges. To replicate the issue it didn't matter what privileges were enabled, only that the PDF contained the `/Encrypt` trailer.

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