CVE-2017-11308 in Acrobat Reader
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Acrobat and Reader versions 2017.012.20098 and earlier, 2017.011.30066 and earlier, 2015.006.30355 and earlier, 11.0.22 and earlier have an exploitable heap overflow vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/07/2020
Adobe Acrobat and Reader contain a critical heap overflow vulnerability that affects multiple product versions including 2017.012.20098 and earlier, 2017.011.30066 and earlier, 2015.006.30355 and earlier, and 11.0.22 and earlier. This vulnerability resides in the handling of specific file formats within the application's memory management system, creating an exploitable condition where attacker-controlled data can overwrite adjacent memory locations in the heap. The flaw manifests when the software processes malformed input data that exceeds allocated buffer boundaries, allowing for memory corruption that can be leveraged to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the current user.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, heap-based buffer overflow, which occurs when data is written beyond the boundaries of a heap-allocated buffer. The vulnerability specifically affects the parsing and rendering components of Adobe's document processing engine, where insufficient bounds checking permits attackers to craft malicious documents that trigger the overflow condition. When exploited, this heap corruption can overwrite critical memory structures including function pointers, return addresses, or other control data that govern program execution flow.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it enables remote code execution without requiring user interaction beyond opening a malicious document. Attackers can leverage this flaw to deliver malware payloads, establish backdoors, or perform privilege escalation attacks against systems running vulnerable versions of Adobe Acrobat or Reader. The vulnerability's exploitability is enhanced by the fact that it requires no special privileges to trigger, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where users frequently open documents from untrusted sources. This vulnerability has been classified under the MITRE ATT&CK framework as part of the 'Execution' phase, specifically mapping to technique T1059.007 for command and scripting interpreter usage, and T1068 for exploit for privilege escalation.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including updating to the latest versions of Adobe Acrobat and Reader, which contain patches addressing this heap overflow vulnerability. System administrators should also consider implementing application whitelisting policies that restrict execution of Adobe Reader and Acrobat applications to only trusted environments. Network-based mitigations such as content filtering and sandboxing of document attachments can provide additional defense in depth. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and implementing comprehensive software inventory management to prevent exploitation of known vulnerabilities in widely used applications.