CVE-2018-16045 in Acrobat Reader
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Acrobat and Reader versions 2019.008.20081 and earlier, 2019.008.20080 and earlier, 2019.008.20081 and earlier, 2017.011.30106 and earlier version, 2017.011.30105 and earlier version, 2015.006.30457 and earlier, and 2015.006.30456 and earlier have a security bypass vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to privilege escalation.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/01/2023
This vulnerability resides within Adobe Acrobat and Reader software across multiple version lines, representing a critical security bypass flaw that enables unauthorized privilege escalation. The affected versions include 2019.008.20081 and earlier, 2017.011.30106 and earlier, 2015.006.30457 and earlier, along with their respective counterparts, creating a widespread impact across the Adobe Acrobat and Reader product family. The vulnerability stems from inadequate access controls and privilege validation mechanisms within the application's security architecture, allowing malicious actors to circumvent intended security boundaries.
The technical flaw manifests through insufficient validation of user privileges during critical operations within the software environment. When users interact with certain functions or file processing capabilities, the application fails to properly verify whether the executing user possesses adequate permissions to perform the requested actions. This weakness creates an exploitable pathway where an attacker with limited privileges can manipulate the application's internal state to gain elevated access rights. The vulnerability operates at the application level rather than the operating system level, making it particularly insidious as it can be leveraged within the trusted software environment.
From an operational perspective, successful exploitation of this vulnerability can result in significant security implications for organizations relying on Adobe Acrobat and Reader for document processing and viewing. The privilege escalation capability allows attackers to perform actions that should be restricted to administrators or privileged users, potentially enabling them to access sensitive documents, modify system configurations, or establish persistent access within the compromised environment. This vulnerability particularly affects enterprise environments where these applications are widely deployed and used for processing confidential business documents, making the potential impact substantial.
The security bypass vulnerability aligns with CWE-284, which describes improper access control issues in software systems, and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1068, which covers local privilege escalation through software exploitation. Organizations should prioritize immediate patching of affected systems to mitigate this risk, as the vulnerability does not require complex exploitation techniques and can be leveraged by attackers with basic technical knowledge. The remediation process involves updating to the latest versions of Adobe Acrobat and Reader, which include proper access control validation mechanisms and privilege enforcement. Additionally, security administrators should implement network segmentation and monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts, while user education regarding document handling practices can help reduce the attack surface.