Adobe Acrobat and Reader CVE-2010-0188 Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Description

Adobe Acrobat and Reader are prone to a remote code-execution vulnerability. An attacker can exploit this issue to execute arbitrary code within the context of the affected application. Failed exploit attempts will result in a denial-of-service condition. The following products are affected: Reader 9.3 for Windows, Macintosh, and UNIX Acrobat 9.3 for Windows and Macintosh Reader 8.2 for Windows and Macintosh Acrobat 8.2 for Windows and Macintosh NOTE: This BID was originally titled ‘Adobe Acrobat and Reader APSB10-07 Unspecified Security Vulnerabilities’ but has been updated with the release of the Adobe patches. NOTE (February 19, 2010): Reports indicate that this issue may be related to the vulnerability discussed in BID 19283 (LibTIFF TiffFetchShortPair Remote Buffer Overflow Vulnerability). We will update this BID as more information emerges.

Technologies Affected

• Adobe Acrobat 9.1.1
• Adobe Acrobat 9.2
• Adobe Acrobat 9.3
• Adobe Acrobat Professional 8.0
• Adobe Acrobat Professional 8.1
• Adobe Acrobat Professional 8.1.1
• Adobe Acrobat Professional 8.1.2
• Adobe Acrobat Professional 8.1.2 Security Update 1
• Adobe Acrobat Professional 8.1.3
• Adobe Acrobat Professional 8.1.4
• Adobe Acrobat Professional 8.1.6
• Adobe Acrobat Professional 8.1.7
• Adobe Acrobat Professional 8.2
• Adobe Acrobat Professional 9
• Adobe Acrobat Professional 9.1
• Adobe Acrobat Professional 9.1.2
• Adobe Acrobat Professional 9.1.3
• Adobe Acrobat Professional 9.2
• Adobe Acrobat Professional 9.3
• Adobe Acrobat Standard 8.0
• Adobe Acrobat Standard 8.1
• Adobe Acrobat Standard 8.1.1
• Adobe Acrobat Standard 8.1.2
• Adobe Acrobat Standard 8.1.3
• Adobe Acrobat Standard 8.1.4
• Adobe Acrobat Standard 8.1.6
• Adobe Acrobat Standard 8.1.7
• Adobe Acrobat Standard 8.2
• Adobe Acrobat Standard 9
• Adobe Acrobat Standard 9.1
• Adobe Acrobat Standard 9.1.2
• Adobe Acrobat Standard 9.1.3
• Adobe Acrobat Standard 9.2
• Adobe Acrobat Standard 9.3
• Adobe Reader 8.0
• Adobe Reader 8.1
• Adobe Reader 8.1.1
• Adobe Reader 8.1.2
• Adobe Reader 8.1.2 Security Update 1
• Adobe Reader 8.1.3
• Adobe Reader 8.1.4
• Adobe Reader 8.1.5
• Adobe Reader 8.1.6
• Adobe Reader 8.1.7
• Adobe Reader 8.2
• Adobe Reader 9
• Adobe Reader 9.1
• Adobe Reader 9.1.1
• Adobe Reader 9.1.2
• Adobe Reader 9.1.3
• Adobe Reader 9.2
• Adobe Reader 9.3
• Gentoo Linux
• Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktop 5 Client
• Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktop Supplementary 5 Client
• Redhat Enterprise Linux ES 4.8.Z
• Redhat Enterprise Linux ES Extras 4
• Redhat Enterprise Linux EUS 5.4.Z Server
• SuSE Moblin 2.0
• SuSE SUSE Linux Enterprise 11
• SuSE Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 SP2
• SuSE Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 SP3
• SuSE openSUSE 11.0
• SuSE openSUSE 11.1
• SuSE openSUSE 11.2

Recommendations

Block external access at the network boundary, unless external parties require service.
If global access isn’t needed, filter access to the affected computer at the network boundary. Restricting access to only trusted computers and networks might greatly reduce the likelihood of a successful exploit.

Deploy network intrusion detection systems to monitor network traffic for malicious activity.
Deploy NIDS to monitor network traffic for signs of anomalous or suspicious activity. This includes but is not limited to requests that include NOP sleds and unexplained incoming and outgoing traffic. This may indicate exploit attempts or activity that results from a successful exploit.

Do not accept or execute files from untrusted or unknown sources.
To limit exposure to these and other latent vulnerabilities, never handle files that originate from unfamiliar or untrusted sources.

Do not follow links provided by unknown or untrusted sources.
To reduce the likelihood of attacks, never visit sites of questionable integrity or follow links provided by unfamiliar or untrusted sources.

Set web browser security to disable the execution of script code or active content.
Disable support for script code and active content within a client browser to reduce the chances of a successful exploit. Note that this mitigation tactic might adversely affect legitimate websites that rely on the execution of browser-based script code.

Implement multiple redundant layers of security.
As an added precaution, deploy memory-protection schemes (such as nonexecutable stack/heap configuration and randomly mapped memory segments). This may complicate exploits of memory-corruption vulnerabilities.

Run all software as a nonprivileged user with minimal access rights.
To reduce the impact of latent vulnerabilities, run applications with the minimal amount of privileges required for functionality.

Updates are available. Please see the references for more information. The payloads delivered by the exploit kits are detected by Symantec as ‘Trojan.Zbot’ and ‘Trojan.Horse’.