CVE-2017-16368 in Acrobat Reader
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in Adobe Acrobat and Reader: 2017.012.20098 and earlier versions, 2017.011.30066 and earlier versions, 2015.006.30355 and earlier versions, and 11.0.22 and earlier versions. This vulnerability leads to a stack-based buffer overflow condition in the internal Unicode string manipulation module. It is triggered by an invalid PDF file, where a crafted Unicode string causes an out of bounds memory access of a stack allocated buffer, due to improper checks when manipulating an offset of a pointer to the buffer. Attackers can exploit the vulnerability and achieve arbitrary code execution if they can effectively control the accessible memory.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/06/2025
This vulnerability exists in multiple versions of Adobe Acrobat and Reader applications, representing a critical stack-based buffer overflow flaw that can be exploited remotely through malicious PDF files. The issue resides within the internal Unicode string manipulation module, which handles character encoding processing when parsing PDF documents. The vulnerability affects versions including 2017.012.20098 and earlier, 2017.011.30066 and earlier, 2015.006.30355 and earlier, and 11.0.22 and earlier, indicating a long-standing flaw that has persisted across multiple release cycles. The root cause stems from inadequate validation of pointer offset calculations during Unicode string processing, where the application fails to properly verify boundary conditions before performing memory operations on stack-allocated buffers.
The technical exploitation occurs when a specially crafted PDF file contains malformed Unicode strings that trigger an out-of-bounds memory access condition. During normal operation, the application processes Unicode strings by manipulating pointers to stack buffers, but the flawed implementation does not adequately check whether the calculated offset values remain within valid memory boundaries. This allows an attacker to overflow the allocated stack buffer and overwrite adjacent memory locations, potentially corrupting the program's execution flow. The vulnerability's classification aligns with CWE-121 Stack-based Buffer Overflow, which specifically addresses buffer overflows occurring in stack memory regions where the attacker can control the buffer size or offset values.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service, as successful exploitation enables arbitrary code execution within the context of the vulnerable application. Attackers can leverage this weakness to inject and execute malicious payloads without requiring local system privileges, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where users frequently open PDF documents from untrusted sources. The vulnerability creates a persistent threat vector since PDF files are commonly used for document sharing across various platforms and industries, including financial services, government agencies, and healthcare organizations that process sensitive information. This makes the exploit surface particularly attractive to threat actors seeking to compromise systems through social engineering campaigns targeting document attachments.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate patching of affected versions, as Adobe released security updates addressing this specific vulnerability. Organizations should implement comprehensive email filtering and web content filtering solutions to prevent users from accessing potentially malicious PDF files, while also maintaining strict update policies for all software components. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input validation and boundary checking in string manipulation routines, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for command and scripting interpreter and T1203 for Exploitation for Client Execution. Network segmentation and application whitelisting can provide additional defense-in-depth measures, while regular security assessments should verify that all PDF processing components are properly updated and configured to minimize the attack surface.