CVE-2018-12849 in Acrobat Reader
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Acrobat and Reader versions 2018.011.20058 and earlier, 2017.011.30099 and earlier, and 2015.006.30448 and earlier have an out-of-bounds read vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to information disclosure.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/17/2023
Adobe Acrobat and Reader applications contain a critical out-of-bounds read vulnerability that affects multiple version ranges including 2018.011.20058 and earlier, 2017.011.30099 and earlier, and 2015.006.30448 and earlier. This vulnerability resides in the handling of specific file formats and occurs when the software processes malformed input data without proper bounds checking mechanisms. The flaw allows an attacker to craft malicious documents that trigger memory access violations beyond the allocated buffer boundaries, potentially exposing sensitive data from adjacent memory locations.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability falls under CWE-129, which specifically addresses insufficient validation of length of inputs to buffers. When Adobe Acrobat and Reader encounter specially crafted PDF files or embedded content, the parsing routines fail to validate array indices or buffer limits before accessing memory locations. This creates an opportunity for information disclosure attacks where attackers can extract potentially sensitive information from memory segments that contain previously processed data, temporary variables, or system information.
From an operational perspective, successful exploitation of this vulnerability can result in significant information disclosure impacts that align with ATT&CK technique T1005 for data from local system. The vulnerability can be leveraged through social engineering campaigns where users are tricked into opening malicious PDF documents, potentially leading to exposure of credentials, system configurations, or other confidential information stored in memory. The attack vector typically involves a user opening a specially crafted document that triggers the vulnerable code path during document parsing or rendering operations.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including applying the latest security patches from Adobe, which address the buffer over-read condition through proper input validation and bounds checking mechanisms. Network segmentation and email filtering solutions should be enhanced to detect and block suspicious PDF attachments. Additionally, user education programs should emphasize the importance of only opening documents from trusted sources and avoiding unexpected attachments. System monitoring should be configured to detect unusual memory access patterns or potential exploitation attempts, while regular vulnerability assessments should verify that all instances of Adobe Acrobat and Reader have been properly updated to mitigate this specific out-of-bounds read vulnerability.