CVE-2011-0603 in Acrobat Reader
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Reader and Acrobat 10.x before 10.0.1, 9.x before 9.4.2, and 8.x before 8.2.6 on Windows and Mac OS X allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted image, a different vulnerability than CVE-2011-0566 and CVE-2011-0567.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/18/2025
Adobe Reader and Acrobat versions prior to specific patched releases contain a critical memory corruption vulnerability that enables remote code execution through crafted image files. This vulnerability affects multiple product versions including Adobe Reader 10.x before 10.0.1, 9.x before 9.4.2, and 8.x before 8.2.6 on both Windows and Mac OS X platforms. The flaw resides in the handling of malformed image data during the parsing process, where insufficient input validation leads to memory corruption that can be exploited by malicious actors to execute arbitrary code or cause system crashes. This vulnerability represents a distinct threat vector from CVE-2011-0566 and CVE-2011-0567, indicating separate code paths and exploitation mechanisms within the Adobe Acrobat processing libraries.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves improper memory management during image file parsing operations. When Adobe Reader encounters a specially crafted image file, the application fails to properly validate the image structure and memory boundaries, leading to buffer overflows or heap corruption. This memory corruption allows attackers to overwrite critical memory locations and potentially inject malicious code that executes with the privileges of the affected application. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it can be triggered through standard document opening procedures, making it accessible to attackers who merely need to entice users to open maliciously crafted documents containing the malformed image data.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risk to organizations relying on Adobe Reader for document processing and viewing. Attackers can leverage this flaw to compromise user systems through social engineering campaigns targeting document attachments, phishing emails, or compromised websites hosting malicious documents. The memory corruption can result in either remote code execution, allowing full system compromise, or denial of service conditions that disrupt business operations. The vulnerability affects both Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, expanding the potential attack surface and making it relevant across multiple enterprise environments. Organizations with legacy Adobe Reader installations remain particularly vulnerable as they may not have received the necessary patches to address this memory corruption issue.
Security mitigations for this vulnerability primarily involve immediate patching of affected Adobe Reader and Acrobat installations to the latest versions containing the necessary security fixes. System administrators should prioritize deployment of Adobe's security updates across all affected platforms and operating systems. Network security controls including email filtering and web content filtering can help reduce the likelihood of users encountering malicious documents containing the exploit. Additionally, implementing application whitelisting policies that restrict Adobe Reader execution to trusted environments can provide additional defense-in-depth measures. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-125, which describes out-of-bounds read conditions, and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1203, representing legitimate user execution via malicious document files. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to ensure all Adobe Reader installations remain current with security patches.