CVE-2017-16399 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 issue is due to an untrusted pointer dereference in the XPS parsing module. In this scenario, the input is crafted in a way that the computation results in pointers to memory locations that do not belong to the relevant process address space. The dereferencing operation is a read operation, and an attack can result in sensitive data exposure.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/03/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-16399 represents a critical memory safety issue affecting multiple versions of Adobe Acrobat and Reader applications. This flaw exists within the XPS parsing module, which processes XML Paper Specification files commonly used for document exchange and printing. The vulnerability manifests as an untrusted pointer dereference that occurs when the application processes malformed XPS input files. The root cause stems from insufficient validation of pointer computations during the parsing process, where crafted input can manipulate memory address calculations to point to locations outside the legitimate process address space. This specific implementation flaw falls under the CWE-476 category of NULL Pointer Dereference, though it more precisely aligns with CWE-468 due to the pointer arithmetic manipulation involved in the attack vector.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability requires an attacker to craft a malicious XPS document that specifically manipulates the pointer computation logic within the parsing module. When the vulnerable application attempts to read from the computed memory address, the operation results in a memory access violation that can be leveraged to extract sensitive information from adjacent memory locations. The attack scenario typically involves the application encountering a crafted input that causes the XPS parser to compute a pointer value pointing to memory regions that should not be accessible to the process. This read operation can potentially expose sensitive data such as encryption keys, user credentials, or other confidential information stored in memory. The vulnerability's impact is particularly concerning given that XPS files are commonly encountered in business environments and can be easily delivered through email attachments or web downloads.
The operational impact of CVE-2017-16399 extends beyond simple information disclosure to potentially enable more sophisticated attacks within the context of the compromised system. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for command and script interpreter usage, as an attacker could potentially leverage the information exposure to craft more targeted attacks. The memory exposure could provide attackers with sufficient information to bypass security controls or to identify additional vulnerabilities within the same process memory space. Organizations running affected versions of Adobe Acrobat and Reader face significant risk, as the vulnerability can be exploited through social engineering campaigns targeting end users. The attack surface is broad since XPS files can be generated from various sources and are often used in legitimate business processes, making detection and prevention challenging. The vulnerability's exploitation requires minimal privileges and can be executed through standard user interactions with malicious documents, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where document processing is common.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2017-16399 should focus on immediate patching of affected Adobe products to the latest versions that contain the necessary security fixes. Organizations should implement strict document validation policies that filter or block XPS files from untrusted sources, particularly in high-risk environments. Network-based security controls can be enhanced to detect and prevent the delivery of potentially malicious XPS files through email attachments or web downloads. System administrators should consider implementing application whitelisting policies that restrict the execution of Adobe Reader applications to trusted environments and configurations. The vulnerability's classification under CWE-468 and its alignment with ATT&CK techniques emphasize the need for comprehensive security awareness training for end users to recognize potential social engineering attempts. Additionally, organizations should conduct regular vulnerability assessments to identify any other potentially affected Adobe products or similar parsing modules within their environment. The remediation process should include thorough testing of patched versions to ensure that security updates do not introduce compatibility issues with legitimate document processing workflows.