Executive Summary

Summary
Title Adobe Reader and Acrobat util.printf() JavaScript function stack buffer overflow
Informations
Name VU#593409 First vendor Publication 2008-11-04
Vendor VU-CERT Last vendor Modification 2008-11-07
Severity (Vendor) N/A Revision M

Security-Database Scoring CVSS v3

Cvss vector : N/A
Overall CVSS Score NA
Base Score NA Environmental Score NA
impact SubScore NA Temporal Score NA
Exploitabality Sub Score NA
 
Calculate full CVSS 3.0 Vectors scores

Security-Database Scoring CVSS v2

Cvss vector : (AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C)
Cvss Base Score 9.3 Attack Range Network
Cvss Impact Score 10 Attack Complexity Medium
Cvss Expoit Score 8.6 Authentication None Required
Calculate full CVSS 2.0 Vectors scores

Detail

Vulnerability Note VU#593409

Adobe Reader and Acrobat util.printf() JavaScript function stack buffer overflow

Overview

Adobe Reader and Acrobat contain a stack buffer overflow in the util.printf() JavaScript function, which may allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable system.

I. Description

Adobe Reader is software designed to view Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Adobe Acrobat is software that can create PDF files. Adobe Reader and Acrobat support JavaScript in PDF documents. According to the Acrobat Forms JavaScript Object Specification, the util.printf() function "... will format one or more values as a string according to a format string. This is similar to the C function of the same name."

Adobe Reader and Acrobat fail to sufficiently validate input to the util.printf() JavaScript function, which can result in a stack buffer overflow. Exploit code for this vulnerability is publicly available.

II. Impact

By convincing a user to open a specially-crafted PDF file, a remote, unauthenticated attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code. This can happen in several ways, such as opening an email attachment or viewing a web page.

III. Solution

Apply an update

This issue is addressed in Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat 8.1.3. More details are available in Adobe Security Bulletin APSB08-019. Please also consider the following workarounds to help mitigate this and other vulnerabilities in Adobe Reader:

Disable the displaying of PDF documents in the web browser

Preventing PDF documents from opening inside a web browser may mitigate this vulnerability. If this workaround is applied to updated versions of the Adobe reader, it may mitigate future vulnerabilities.

To prevent PDF documents from automatically being opened in a web browser:

  1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader.
  2. Open the Edit menu.
  3. Choose the preferences option.
  4. Choose the Internet section.
  5. Un-check the "Display PDF in browser" check box.
Ubuntu users and administrators can prevent Adobe Reader from automatically opening PDF files inside their web browser by removing the mozilla-acroread package.

Prevent Internet Explorer from automatically opening PDF documents

The installer for Adobe Reader and Acrobat configures Internet Explorer to automatically open PDF files without any user interaction. This behavior can be reverted to the safer option of prompting the user by importing the following as a .REG file:
    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTAcroExch.Document.7]
    "EditFlags"=hex:00,00,00,00
Disable JavaScript in Adobe Reader and Acrobat

Disabling Javascript may prevent this vulnerability from being exploited. Acrobat JavaScript can be disabled in the General preferences dialog (Edit -> Preferences -> JavaScript and un-check Enable Acrobat JavaScript).

Do not open untrusted PDF files

Do not open unfamiliar or unexpected PDF attachments. Users can convert PDF documents to text by using the Adobe Online Conversion Tools site. See the Online Conversion Tools FAQ for information about this service. This workaround will not mitigate all attack vectors.

Systems Affected

VendorStatusDate NotifiedDate Updated
AdobeVulnerable2008-05-222008-11-07

References


http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb08-19.html
http://secunia.com/advisories/29773/
http://secunia.com/advisories/29941/
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/30035
http://www.coresecurity.com/content/adobe-reader-buffer-overflow

Credit

This vulnerability was reported by Will Dormann of the CERT/CC, based on information provided by Dyon Balding of Secunia Research.

This document was written by Will Dormann.

Other Information

Date Public:2008-11-04
Date First Published:2008-11-04
Date Last Updated:2008-11-07
CERT Advisory: 
CVE-ID(s):CVE-2008-2992
NVD-ID(s):CVE-2008-2992
US-CERT Technical Alerts: 
Metric:24.62
Document Revision:21

Original Source

Url : http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/593409

CWE : Common Weakness Enumeration

% Id Name
100 % CWE-119 Failure to Constrain Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer

CPE : Common Platform Enumeration

TypeDescriptionCount
Application 96
Application 63

SAINT Exploits

Description Link
Adobe Acrobat util.printf JavaScript function buffer overflow More info here

ExploitDB Exploits

id Description
2008-11-05 Adobe Reader - util.printf() JavaScript Function Stack Overflow Exploit (2)

OpenVAS Exploits

Date Description
2009-01-20 Name : Gentoo Security Advisory GLSA 200901-09 (acroread)
File : nvt/glsa_200901_09.nasl
2008-11-05 Name : Adobe Reader/Acrobat Multiple Vulnerabilities - Nov08 (Linux)
File : nvt/gb_adobe_prdts_mult_vuln_nov08_lin.nasl
2008-11-05 Name : Adobe Reader/Acrobat Multiple Vulnerabilities - Nov08 (Win)
File : nvt/gb_adobe_prdts_mult_vuln_nov08_win.nasl

Open Source Vulnerability Database (OSVDB)

Id Description
49520 Adobe Reader / Acrobat util.printf() Function Crafted PDF File Handling Overflow

A remote overflow exists in Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat. The document reader fails to properly bounds check input to the util.printf() javascript function resulting in a stack-based overflow. With a specially crafted request, an attacker can cause arbitrary code execution resulting in a loss of integrity.

Snort® IPS/IDS

Date Description
2014-01-10 Multiple exploit kit Payload detection - readme.dll
RuleID : 27898 - Revision : 2 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Multiple exploit kit Payload detection - calc.dll
RuleID : 27897 - Revision : 2 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Multiple exploit kit Payload detection - contacts.dll
RuleID : 27896 - Revision : 2 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Multiple exploit kit Payload detection - info.dll
RuleID : 27895 - Revision : 2 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Multiple exploit kit Payload detection - about.dll
RuleID : 27894 - Revision : 2 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Teletubbies exploit kit payload download
RuleID : 27893 - Revision : 2 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Teletubbies exploit kit exploit attempt for Adobe Acrobat Reader
RuleID : 27892 - Revision : 2 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 iFramer toolkit injected iframe detected - specific structure
RuleID : 27271 - Revision : 3 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Adobe Acrobat Reader util.printf buffer overflow attempt
RuleID : 27233 - Revision : 8 - Type : FILE-PDF
2014-01-10 Adobe Acrobat Reader util.printf buffer overflow attempt
RuleID : 27232 - Revision : 8 - Type : FILE-PDF
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page retrieval
RuleID : 27072 - Revision : 4 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page retrieval
RuleID : 27071 - Revision : 4 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Multiple exploit kit Payload detection - info.dll
RuleID : 26508 - Revision : 3 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackholev2 exploit kit jar file downloaded
RuleID : 26434 - Revision : 4 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Nuclear exploit kit landing page
RuleID : 26343 - Revision : 4 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Nuclear exploit kit landing page - specific structure
RuleID : 26342 - Revision : 3 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Nuclear exploit kit landing page
RuleID : 26341 - Revision : 3 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page retrieval - ff.php
RuleID : 26339 - Revision : 4 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 IFRAMEr injection detection - leads to exploit kit
RuleID : 26338 - Revision : 4 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page - specific structure
RuleID : 26337 - Revision : 3 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page retrieval
RuleID : 26227 - Revision : 5 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Multiple exploit kit 32-alpha jar request
RuleID : 25798 - Revision : 10 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackholev2 exploit kit redirection successful
RuleID : 25611 - Revision : 4 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackholev2 exploit kit landing page
RuleID : 25569 - Revision : 4 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page retrieval
RuleID : 25568 - Revision : 6 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Multiple Exploit Kit Payload detection - setup.exe
RuleID : 25526 - Revision : 2 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackholev2 exploit kit redirection successful
RuleID : 25388 - Revision : 4 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Multiple exploit kit Payload detection - readme.exe
RuleID : 25387 - Revision : 4 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Multiple exploit kit Payload detection - about.exe
RuleID : 25386 - Revision : 4 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Multiple exploit kit Payload detection - calc.exe
RuleID : 25385 - Revision : 4 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Multiple exploit kit Payload detection - contacts.exe
RuleID : 25384 - Revision : 4 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Multiple exploit kit Payload detection - info.exe
RuleID : 25383 - Revision : 4 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Multiple exploit kit malicious jar file dropped
RuleID : 25382 - Revision : 5 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackholev2 exploit kit url structure detected
RuleID : 25043 - Revision : 4 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackholev2 exploit kit redirection successful
RuleID : 24638 - Revision : 6 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackholev2 exploit kit redirection page - specific structure
RuleID : 24637 - Revision : 6 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackholev2 exploit kit redirection page - specific structure
RuleID : 24636 - Revision : 7 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackholev2 exploit kit landing page download attempt
RuleID : 24608 - Revision : 6 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackholev2 exploit kit landing page received - specific structure
RuleID : 24593 - Revision : 7 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page download attempt
RuleID : 24548 - Revision : 5 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page download attempt
RuleID : 24547 - Revision : 5 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackholev2 exploit kit landing page download attempt
RuleID : 24546 - Revision : 6 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole admin page outbound access attempt
RuleID : 24544 - Revision : 4 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole admin page inbound access attempt
RuleID : 24543 - Revision : 4 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackholev2 exploit kit fallback executable download
RuleID : 24501 - Revision : 5 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole - Cookie Set
RuleID : 24475 - Revision : 3 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackholev2 exploit kit landing page Received
RuleID : 24228 - Revision : 7 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackholev2 - URI Structure
RuleID : 24227 - Revision : 9 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackholev2 exploit kit landing page received
RuleID : 24226 - Revision : 6 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole possible email Landing to 8 chr folder
RuleID : 24171 - Revision : 8 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page with specific structure
RuleID : 24054 - Revision : 10 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page with specific structure
RuleID : 24053 - Revision : 7 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page with specific structure - fewbgazr catch
RuleID : 23962 - Revision : 7 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page with specific structure - hwehes
RuleID : 23850 - Revision : 7 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole redirection attempt
RuleID : 23849 - Revision : 8 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole redirection attempt
RuleID : 23848 - Revision : 5 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole redirection page
RuleID : 23797 - Revision : 6 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page with specific structure - Math.round catch
RuleID : 23786 - Revision : 9 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page with specific structure - Math.floor catch
RuleID : 23785 - Revision : 9 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page
RuleID : 23781 - Revision : 7 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page request - tkr
RuleID : 23622 - Revision : 7 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page with specific structure - prototype catch ...
RuleID : 23619 - Revision : 7 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page download attempt
RuleID : 23159 - Revision : 9 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page with specific structure - prototype catch
RuleID : 23158 - Revision : 7 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Nuclear Pack exploit kit binary download
RuleID : 23157 - Revision : 10 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Nuclear Pack exploit kit landing page
RuleID : 23156 - Revision : 11 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole redirection attempt
RuleID : 22949 - Revision : 5 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole Exploit Kit javascript service method
RuleID : 22088 - Revision : 12 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole landing redirection page
RuleID : 22041 - Revision : 6 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole suspected landing page
RuleID : 22040 - Revision : 5 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole suspected landing page
RuleID : 22039 - Revision : 5 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit landing page with specific structure - Loading
RuleID : 21876 - Revision : 8 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Possible exploit kit post compromise activity - taskkill
RuleID : 21875 - Revision : 5 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Possible exploit kit post compromise activity - StrReverse
RuleID : 21874 - Revision : 5 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Phoenix exploit kit post-compromise behavior
RuleID : 21860 - Revision : 5 - Type : MALWARE-CNC
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page with specific structure - catch
RuleID : 21661 - Revision : 8 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page Requested - /Index/index.php
RuleID : 21660 - Revision : 8 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page Requested - /Home/index.php
RuleID : 21659 - Revision : 7 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page
RuleID : 21658 - Revision : 7 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page - specific structure
RuleID : 21657 - Revision : 7 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page with specific structure - prototype catch
RuleID : 21646-community - Revision : 16 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page with specific structure - prototype catch
RuleID : 21646 - Revision : 16 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Phoenix exploit kit landing page
RuleID : 21640 - Revision : 6 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page with specific structure - BBB
RuleID : 21581 - Revision : 9 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page with specific header
RuleID : 21549 - Revision : 8 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page with specific header
RuleID : 21539 - Revision : 8 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page with specific structure - prototype catch
RuleID : 21492-community - Revision : 22 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page with specific structure - prototype catch
RuleID : 21492 - Revision : 22 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit JavaScript carat string splitting with hostile applet
RuleID : 21438-community - Revision : 7 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit JavaScript carat string splitting with hostile applet
RuleID : 21438 - Revision : 7 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit URL - search.php?page=
RuleID : 21348 - Revision : 8 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit URL - .php?page=
RuleID : 21347 - Revision : 12 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit malicious jar download
RuleID : 21346 - Revision : 7 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit malicious jar request
RuleID : 21345 - Revision : 9 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit pdf download
RuleID : 21344 - Revision : 5 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit pdf request
RuleID : 21343 - Revision : 7 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit response
RuleID : 21259 - Revision : 5 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit control panel access
RuleID : 21141 - Revision : 7 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page
RuleID : 21045 - Revision : 6 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit landing page
RuleID : 21044 - Revision : 6 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit post-compromise download attempt - .php?e=
RuleID : 21043 - Revision : 10 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit post-compromise download attempt - .php?f=
RuleID : 21042 - Revision : 11 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Blackhole exploit kit URL - main.php?page=
RuleID : 21041 - Revision : 12 - Type : EXPLOIT-KIT
2014-01-10 Adobe Acrobat Reader util.printf buffer overflow attempt
RuleID : 18596 - Revision : 14 - Type : FILE-PDF
2014-01-10 Adobe Acrobat Reader util.printf buffer overflow attempt
RuleID : 15014 - Revision : 15 - Type : FILE-PDF

Nessus® Vulnerability Scanner

Date Description
2009-08-28 Name : The version of Adobe Acrobat on the remote Windows host is affected by multip...
File : adobe_acrobat_813.nasl - Type : ACT_GATHER_INFO
2009-08-24 Name : The remote Red Hat host is missing one or more security updates.
File : redhat-RHSA-2008-0974.nasl - Type : ACT_GATHER_INFO
2009-07-21 Name : The remote openSUSE host is missing a security update.
File : suse_11_0_acroread-081107.nasl - Type : ACT_GATHER_INFO
2009-01-14 Name : The remote Gentoo host is missing one or more security-related patches.
File : gentoo_GLSA-200901-09.nasl - Type : ACT_GATHER_INFO
2008-11-24 Name : The remote SuSE 10 host is missing a security-related patch.
File : suse_acroread-5746.nasl - Type : ACT_GATHER_INFO
2008-11-24 Name : The remote openSUSE host is missing a security update.
File : suse_acroread-5749.nasl - Type : ACT_GATHER_INFO
2008-11-04 Name : The PDF file viewer on the remote Windows host is affected by multiple vulner...
File : adobe_reader_813.nasl - Type : ACT_GATHER_INFO