CVE-2019-7089 in Acrobat Reader
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Acrobat and Reader versions 2019.010.20069 and earlier, 2019.010.20069 and earlier, 2017.011.30113 and earlier version, and 2015.006.30464 and earlier have a data leakage (sensitive) vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to information disclosure.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/23/2024
Adobe Acrobat and Reader applications contain a data leakage vulnerability that affects multiple version ranges including 2019.010.20069 and earlier, 2017.011.30113 and earlier, and 2015.006.30464 and earlier. This vulnerability falls under the category of sensitive data exposure and represents a critical security flaw that could potentially compromise user confidentiality and system integrity. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of sensitive information within the application's memory management and data processing mechanisms, creating opportunities for unauthorized disclosure of confidential data.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves a failure in the application's data sanitization and memory protection protocols. When processing certain document formats or executing specific operations, the software fails to properly clear sensitive data from memory before reuse or before the memory is released to the operating system. This behavior creates a window of opportunity for attackers to extract residual data through memory inspection techniques. The flaw is particularly concerning because it operates at the application level rather than at the system level, making it more difficult to detect and prevent through traditional network-based security measures. According to CWE standards, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-200, which addresses "Information Exposure," and potentially CWE-125, "Out-of-bounds Read," depending on the specific exploitation vectors.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure to encompass potential compromise of user privacy, intellectual property, and sensitive business data. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability to extract confidential information from memory dumps, process snapshots, or through direct memory access techniques. The affected versions of Adobe Acrobat and Reader are widely deployed across enterprise environments, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous as it could affect organizations with high-value data assets. The vulnerability's exploitation requires relatively minimal privileges and could be executed through crafted malicious documents or by leveraging other attack vectors that lead to document processing within the vulnerable application. This characteristic makes the vulnerability suitable for both targeted attacks against specific users and broader campaign attacks against organizations.
Security professionals should consider implementing multiple layers of defense to protect against exploitation of this vulnerability. Immediate remediation involves updating to the latest versions of Adobe Acrobat and Reader where the vulnerability has been patched. Organizations should also consider implementing memory protection mechanisms such as address space layout randomization and data execution prevention to reduce the effectiveness of potential exploitation attempts. Network-based security controls including web application firewalls and intrusion detection systems can help detect and block suspicious document processing activities. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability relates to techniques involving credential access and defense evasion, particularly T1003 for OS credential dumping and T1059 for command and scripting interpreter. Regular security assessments and memory analysis should be conducted to identify potential exploitation attempts, while user awareness training should emphasize the dangers of opening untrusted documents from unknown sources. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper memory management practices and the need for comprehensive security testing throughout the software development lifecycle to prevent similar issues in future releases.