CVE-2017-11216 in Acrobat Reader
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Acrobat Reader 2017.009.20058 and earlier, 2017.008.30051 and earlier, 2015.006.30306 and earlier, and 11.0.20 and earlier has an exploitable memory corruption vulnerability in the image conversion engine when processing Enhanced Metafile Format (EMF) data related to bitmap transformations. Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/29/2024
This vulnerability resides in Adobe Acrobat Reader's image conversion engine where it processes Enhanced Metafile Format (EMF) data during bitmap transformations. The flaw manifests as a memory corruption issue that occurs when the software handles specific EMF structures containing bitmap conversion instructions. The vulnerability affects multiple versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader including 2017.009.20058 and earlier, 2017.008.30051 and earlier, 2015.006.30306 and earlier, and 11.0.20 and earlier versions, indicating a long-standing issue within the software's image processing pipeline. The memory corruption vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and bounds checking within the EMF parsing logic, which allows attackers to craft malicious EMF files that trigger buffer overflows or other memory corruption conditions during the bitmap transformation process. This type of vulnerability maps to CWE-121, heap-based buffer overflow, and CWE-125, out-of-bounds read, as the flaw occurs during memory allocation and data processing operations. The exploitability of this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for command and scripting interpreter, as successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution, potentially allowing attackers to execute malicious payloads with the privileges of the victim user. When exploited, the vulnerability enables attackers to achieve remote code execution, which represents a critical security risk given that Adobe Acrobat Reader is widely deployed and often used to open untrusted PDF documents containing embedded EMF graphics. The operational impact extends beyond simple code execution as it could allow attackers to establish persistent access, escalate privileges, or deploy additional malware within the victim environment. The vulnerability's exploitation typically requires social engineering to get victims to open maliciously crafted PDF files containing embedded EMF graphics, making it a common target for phishing campaigns and targeted attacks. Organizations running affected versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader face significant risk exposure, particularly in enterprise environments where PDF documents are frequently exchanged and where users may encounter malicious content in legitimate business communications. The memory corruption aspect of this vulnerability makes it particularly dangerous because it can lead to unpredictable behavior including application crashes, data corruption, or complete system compromise. Security researchers have noted that the vulnerability is particularly concerning because it operates at the image processing layer, which means that even documents that appear benign could contain malicious EMF content that triggers the exploit during normal document rendering. Mitigation strategies should include immediate patching of affected Adobe Acrobat Reader versions, implementation of PDF document filtering to block potentially malicious EMF content, and deployment of network-based intrusion detection systems to monitor for exploitation attempts. Additionally, users should be educated about the risks of opening PDF documents from untrusted sources and should be trained to recognize potential social engineering attempts that might deliver malicious documents containing this vulnerability. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date software and implementing defense-in-depth strategies to protect against memory corruption exploits that can lead to complete system compromise.