CVE-2011-2106 in Acrobat
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Reader and Acrobat 8.x before 8.3, 9.x before 9.4.5, and 10.x before 10.1 on Mac OS X allow attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/17/2018
Adobe Reader and Acrobat versions prior to specific patches contain a critical memory corruption vulnerability that affects Mac OS X systems and presents significant security risks to organizations relying on these applications for document processing. This vulnerability exists in versions 8.x before 8.3, 9.x before 9.4.5, and 10.x before 10.1 of the software, representing a widespread issue that impacts multiple major releases of the Adobe Acrobat suite. The flaw allows remote attackers to potentially execute arbitrary code on affected systems or cause denial of service conditions through unspecified attack vectors that leverage memory corruption techniques.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper memory handling within the Adobe Reader and Acrobat applications, specifically within their processing mechanisms for document files on Mac OS X platforms. Memory corruption vulnerabilities typically occur when applications fail to properly validate input data or manage memory allocation and deallocation processes, leading to situations where attacker-controlled data can overwrite critical memory regions. This particular vulnerability falls under the category of memory safety issues that are commonly classified as CWE-125, representing out-of-bounds read conditions, or CWE-787, representing out-of-bounds write conditions, which are fundamental weaknesses in software security architecture. The vulnerability enables attackers to manipulate memory contents through carefully crafted malicious documents that, when opened by an affected application, trigger the exploitable conditions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple exploitation scenarios to encompass potential system compromise and service disruption across enterprise environments. Organizations utilizing Adobe Reader and Acrobat on Mac OS X systems face significant risks as attackers could leverage this vulnerability to gain unauthorized access to systems, potentially escalating privileges and establishing persistent access. The memory corruption nature of the flaw means that successful exploitation could result in complete system compromise, allowing attackers to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the affected user account. Additionally, the vulnerability's potential for denial of service means that even unsuccessful exploitation attempts could render the applications unusable, impacting productivity and potentially requiring system restarts or application reinstallation to restore normal operations.
Organizations should prioritize immediate patch management to address this vulnerability, as the affected versions represent a substantial security risk that could be exploited by threat actors without requiring specialized knowledge or expensive tools. The recommended mitigation strategy involves upgrading to Adobe Reader and Acrobat versions 8.3, 9.4.5, or 10.1 respectively, which contain the necessary security fixes to prevent exploitation. System administrators should also implement additional protective measures including network segmentation, application whitelisting, and regular security assessments to reduce the attack surface and detect potential exploitation attempts. Organizations should consider deploying security solutions that monitor for suspicious file handling activities and implement content filtering to prevent users from opening potentially malicious documents. The vulnerability's classification under ATT&CK framework as a privilege escalation or code execution technique emphasizes the need for comprehensive defensive measures including endpoint protection, network monitoring, and user education to prevent successful exploitation attempts.