CVE-2018-12799 in Acrobat Reader
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Acrobat and Reader versions 2018.011.20055 and earlier, 2017.011.30096 and earlier, and 2015.006.30434 and earlier have an untrusted pointer dereference vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/06/2023
Adobe Acrobat and Reader applications contain a critical untrusted pointer dereference vulnerability that affects multiple version ranges including 2018.011.20055 and earlier, 2017.011.30096 and earlier, and 2015.006.30434 and earlier. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-476 category of NULL Pointer Dereference, where the software fails to properly validate pointer values before attempting to access memory locations. The flaw occurs when the application processes malformed PDF files that contain specially crafted pointer references which are not adequately validated by the parsing routines. When an attacker crafts a malicious PDF document with invalid pointer values, the application attempts to dereference these untrusted pointers during normal document processing operations. This unvalidated memory access can result in a crash or more severely, allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code within the context of the application's privileges.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it represents a remote code execution vector that could be exploited through social engineering attacks. An attacker could distribute malicious PDF files through email attachments, compromised websites, or other delivery mechanisms, and when victims open these documents with vulnerable versions of Adobe Reader or Acrobat, the exploit would automatically trigger. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it requires no user interaction beyond opening the malicious file, making it an ideal candidate for phishing campaigns and targeted attacks. This aligns with ATT&CK technique T1204.002 for legitimate user execution and T1059.001 for command and scripting interpreter, as the exploit leverages the application's legitimate functionality to execute malicious code.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability demonstrates a classic memory corruption flaw where pointer validation is insufficient during PDF parsing operations. When the application encounters malformed pointer references in the PDF structure, it fails to perform proper bounds checking or validation before attempting to access the referenced memory locations. This allows attackers to manipulate memory pointers to redirect execution flow or cause memory corruption that can be leveraged for code execution. Organizations should immediately apply patches from Adobe's security bulletin to address this vulnerability, as the risk of exploitation is high given the widespread use of Adobe Reader across enterprise environments. The remediation process should include comprehensive testing of the patched versions to ensure compatibility with existing document workflows while maintaining security posture against this critical remote code execution vulnerability.