CVE-2017-16408 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 occurs as a result of a computation that reads data that is past the end of the target buffer; the computation is a part of the WebCapture module. The use of an invalid (out-of-range) pointer offset during access of internal data structure fields causes the vulnerability. A successful attack can lead to sensitive data exposure.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/03/2024
This vulnerability exists within Adobe Acrobat and Reader software across multiple version ranges including 2017.012.20098 and earlier, 2017.011.30066 and earlier, 2015.006.30355 and earlier, and 11.0.22 and earlier versions. The flaw resides in the WebCapture module which handles web content capture functionality within the PDF viewer environment. The vulnerability manifests as a buffer overread condition where the application attempts to access memory locations beyond the allocated buffer boundaries during processing of web content. This specific issue represents a classic out-of-bounds memory access vulnerability that occurs when the software computes an invalid pointer offset while accessing internal data structure fields. The root cause stems from inadequate bounds checking within the memory management routines of the WebCapture component, allowing maliciously crafted web content to trigger unintended memory access patterns. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-125 which specifically addresses out-of-bounds read conditions in software applications.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple memory access violations to potentially expose sensitive data stored in adjacent memory regions. When the application processes malformed web content through the WebCapture module, it executes code that accesses memory locations past the intended buffer boundaries, which may contain confidential information such as user credentials, system memory contents, or other sensitive data. Attackers could exploit this vulnerability by crafting malicious web pages or PDF documents that trigger the vulnerable code path when opened within the affected Adobe applications. The exploitation process would involve preparing content that causes the WebCapture module to compute an invalid pointer offset, leading to the disclosure of memory contents that could include authentication tokens, personal information, or other valuable data. This vulnerability directly relates to the attack technique described in MITRE ATT&CK framework under T1059 for execution of malicious code and T1005 for data from local system.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of affected Adobe Acrobat and Reader installations to the latest versions that contain the necessary memory safety fixes. Organizations should implement comprehensive software update management policies to ensure all endpoints are running patched versions of Adobe products. Additional defensive measures include deploying web content filtering solutions that can identify and block potentially malicious web content before it reaches user systems, implementing sandboxing technologies to isolate PDF processing activities, and monitoring for anomalous memory access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Network security controls should be configured to restrict access to potentially dangerous web content and implement strict content validation for all web traffic. System administrators should also consider implementing application whitelisting policies that restrict execution of untrusted PDF files and ensure that Adobe Reader is configured with minimum required privileges to reduce the potential impact of successful exploitation attempts. The vulnerability underscores the importance of proper bounds checking and memory safety practices in software development, particularly for applications that process untrusted input data from web sources.