Out-of-Cycle Adobe Reader Update Fixes Zero Day Vulnerability

Severity: High

June 30, 2010

Summary:

§  This vulnerability affects: Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.3.2 and earlier, on Windows, Mac, and UNIX computers

§  How an attacker exploits it: Typically, by enticing your users into viewing a maliciously crafted PDF document

§  Impact: An attacker can execute code on your computer, potentially gaining control of it

§  What to do: Install Adobe's Reader and Acrobat 9.3.3 updates as soon as possible (or let Adobe's Updater do it for you).

Exposure:

A few weeks ago, we released an alert warning you of an Adobe Flash update that fixed a zero day vulnerability that attackers were exploiting in the wild. In that alert, we also mentioned that Adobe Reader was susceptible to the zero day flaw as well, but Adobe had not had time to patch it, and were planning to release a Reader update on June 29th. As promised, yesterday Adobe released an update for Reader and Acrobat that fixes seventeen security vulnerabilities (number based on CVE-IDs) in their popular PDF reader, including the zero day flaw in Reader's Flash component (authplay.dll). 

The 17 flaws differ technically, but most of them consist  of buffer overflow and  memory corruption vulnerabilities that share the same general scope and impact. If an attacker can entice one of your users into downloading and opening a maliciously crafted PDF document (.pdf), the vulnerability can be exploited to execute code on that user's computer, with that user's privileges. If your user has local administrative privileges, the attacker gains full control of the user's machine.

Since attackers have actively exploited this Flash-related Reader vulnerability in the wild for weeks now, we greatly encourage you to download and install this Reader update as soon as possible. Also note, Adobe typically sticks to a monthly patch cycle that falls on the same day as Microsoft Patch Day (the second Tuesday of the month). However, since they chose to release this Reader update early due to its critical nature, they will not release any Reader updates on their normally scheduled patch day, July 13.

Solution Path

Adobe has released Reader and Acrobat 9.3.3 updates to fix these vulnerabilities on all platforms. You should download and deploy the corresponding updates immediately, or let the Adobe Software Updater program do it for you.

§  Adobe Reader 9.3.3

§  For Windows

§  For Mac

§  For UNIX

§  Adobe Acrobat

§  Standard and Pro for Windows

§  Pro Extended for Windows

§  3D for Windows

§  Pro for Mac

For All WatchGuard Users:

Many WatchGuard Firebox models can block incoming PDF files. However, most administrators prefer to allow these file types for business purposes. Nonetheless, if PDF files are not absolutely necessary to your business, you may consider blocking them using the Firebox's HTTP and SMTP proxy until the patch has been installed.

If you decide you want to block PDF documents, follow the links below for video instructions on using your Firebox proxy's content blocking features to block .pdf files by their file extension:

§  Firebox X Edge running 10.x

§  How do I block files with the FTP proxy?

§  How do I block files with the HTTP proxy?

§  How do I block files with the POP3 proxy?

§  How do I block files with the SMTP proxy

§  Firebox X Core and X Peak running Fireware 10.x

§  How do I block files with the FTP proxy?

§  How do I block files with the HTTP proxy?

§  How do I block files with the POP3 proxy?

§  How do I block files with the SMTP proxy?

Status:

Adobe has released patches that correct these vulnerabilities.

References:

§  Adobe's Reader Security Bulletin for June

This alert was researched and written by Corey Nachreiner, CISSP.