CVE-2012-4150 in Acrobat Reader
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x before 9.5.2 and 10.x before 10.1.4 on Windows and Mac OS X allow attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2012-2051, CVE-2012-4147, CVE-2012-4148, CVE-2012-4149, CVE-2012-4151, CVE-2012-4152, CVE-2012-4153, CVE-2012-4154, CVE-2012-4155, CVE-2012-4156, CVE-2012-4157, CVE-2012-4158, CVE-2012-4159, and CVE-2012-4160.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/15/2018
This vulnerability affects Adobe Reader and Acrobat versions 9.x before 9.5.2 and 10.x before 10.1.4 on Windows and Mac OS X operating systems. The flaw represents a memory corruption issue that can be exploited by remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service conditions. Unlike other related vulnerabilities in the same year, CVE-2012-4150 presents distinct attack vectors that specifically target memory handling mechanisms within the Adobe PDF processing engine. The vulnerability stems from improper memory management during PDF document parsing and rendering operations, creating opportunities for attackers to manipulate memory structures through crafted malicious PDF files.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves memory corruption patterns that can be triggered when Adobe Reader processes specially crafted PDF content. Attackers can construct PDF documents containing malformed data structures that cause buffer overflows, use-after-free conditions, or other memory manipulation exploits during document rendering. These memory corruption issues typically occur in the parser components responsible for interpreting PDF objects, streams, and embedded content. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and can be exploited through social engineering techniques where users open malicious PDF attachments or visit compromised websites serving malicious content.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to enterprise environments where Adobe Reader is widely deployed. Successful exploitation can result in complete system compromise, allowing attackers to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running Adobe Reader. The memory corruption can be leveraged to escalate privileges, install backdoors, or establish persistent access to target systems. Organizations may experience service disruption through denial of service attacks that crash the Adobe Reader application or cause system instability. The vulnerability's broad impact across multiple versions and operating systems makes it particularly dangerous for organizations with legacy Adobe deployments that have not been updated.
Security professionals should implement immediate mitigation strategies including prompt patch deployment for Adobe Reader and Acrobat versions 9.5.2 and 10.1.4 respectively. Network segmentation and email filtering controls should be enhanced to prevent delivery of potentially malicious PDF files. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read and CWE-787: Out-of-bounds Write categories from the Common Weakness Enumeration catalog, indicating memory safety issues in the application's handling of PDF data structures. Organizations should also consider implementing application whitelisting policies to restrict execution of Adobe Reader only from trusted sources and monitor for suspicious PDF-related activities in network traffic. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under T1203: Exploitation for Client Execution, highlighting the threat landscape where adversaries leverage software vulnerabilities to execute malicious code on target systems through legitimate applications.