CVE-2011-4369 in Acrobat Reader
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in the PRC component in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x before 9.4.7 on Windows, Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x through 9.4.6 on Mac OS X, Adobe Reader and Acrobat 10.x through 10.1.1 on Windows and Mac OS X, and Adobe Reader 9.x through 9.4.6 on UNIX allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unknown vectors, as exploited in the wild in December 2011.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/16/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2011-4369 represents a critical memory corruption flaw within the PRC component of Adobe Reader and Acrobat software across multiple platforms and versions. This vulnerability specifically affects Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x versions prior to 9.4.7 on Windows systems, 9.x versions through 9.4.6 on Mac OS X, 10.x versions through 10.1.1 on both Windows and Mac OS X platforms, and Adobe Reader 9.x versions through 9.4.6 on UNIX systems. The flaw manifests as an unspecified vulnerability that enables remote attackers to achieve arbitrary code execution or induce denial of service conditions through unknown attack vectors that were actively exploited in the wild during December 2011.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from memory corruption issues within the PRC component, which is a core functionality responsible for processing certain types of documents and media content. Memory corruption vulnerabilities typically occur when software writes data beyond the boundaries of allocated memory buffers or manipulates memory in ways that violate program integrity. This particular flaw demonstrates characteristics consistent with heap-based buffer overflows or use-after-free conditions that are commonly classified under CWE-121, which addresses heap-based buffer overflow conditions, and CWE-122, which covers buffer overflow vulnerabilities in heap-based data structures. The PRC component's handling of malformed input data or specially crafted documents likely triggers these memory corruption scenarios that can be exploited by remote attackers.
The operational impact of CVE-2011-4369 extends significantly beyond simple system instability, as it provides attackers with the capability to execute arbitrary code on vulnerable systems. This remote code execution vulnerability represents a severe threat to enterprise security infrastructure, as it allows attackers to gain unauthorized access to systems without requiring physical presence or prior compromise. The vulnerability's exploitation in the wild during December 2011 demonstrates that attackers were actively leveraging this flaw to deploy malware, establish persistent access, and potentially escalate privileges within compromised environments. The cross-platform nature of this vulnerability means that organizations using Adobe Reader and Acrobat across Windows, Mac OS X, and UNIX systems were all at risk, creating widespread exposure across different operating environments.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigation strategies focusing on software updates and security hardening measures. Adobe released patches for affected versions, with the most critical updates being Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.4.7 for Windows, 9.4.6 for Mac OS X, and 10.1.1 for both Windows and Mac OS X platforms. Security teams should prioritize patch management activities to ensure all systems are updated with the latest security releases. Additionally, network security controls including web application firewalls, content filtering systems, and email security solutions should be configured to block potentially malicious PDF files and suspicious document content. According to ATT&CK framework category T1203, this vulnerability aligns with techniques involving exploitation of software vulnerabilities for privilege escalation and persistent access. Organizations should also consider implementing sandboxing technologies and privilege separation mechanisms to limit the potential impact of successful exploitation attempts, as these measures can significantly reduce the attack surface and limit the damage that could result from successful exploitation of this memory corruption vulnerability.