CVE-2022-23191 in Illustrator
Summary
by MITRE • 02/16/2022
Adobe Illustrator versions 25.4.3 (and earlier) and 26.0.2 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to bypass mitigations such as ASLR. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/19/2022
Adobe Illustrator contains a critical out-of-bounds read vulnerability in its handling of specific file formats that affects versions 25.4.3 and earlier, as well as 26.0.2 and earlier. This flaw resides in the application's parsing logic for malformed input files, where insufficient bounds checking allows an attacker to craft specially designed malicious files that trigger memory access violations. The vulnerability manifests when Illustrator attempts to read data beyond the allocated memory boundaries during file processing operations. According to the Common Weakness Enumeration catalog, this represents a CWE-125 weakness, specifically an out-of-bounds read condition that can result in information disclosure. The security implications extend beyond simple data exposure as this vulnerability can be leveraged to defeat address space layout randomization protections, a critical mitigations technique used by modern operating systems to prevent exploitation of memory corruption vulnerabilities. When exploited successfully, the out-of-bounds read can expose sensitive memory locations containing stack canaries, heap metadata, or other security-relevant information that would normally be protected from direct access.
The exploitation process requires social engineering to convince an unsuspecting user to open a maliciously crafted file, making this a user-interaction dependent vulnerability. Attackers typically create specially formatted files that contain malformed data structures designed to trigger the specific memory access pattern that leads to the out-of-bounds read. Once the vulnerable application processes this file, the memory disclosure can reveal information that allows attackers to bypass security features like ASLR, which randomizes memory layout to prevent predictable memory addresses. This makes subsequent exploitation attempts more reliable and increases the likelihood of successful compromise. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and does not require elevated privileges to exploit, as it leverages the legitimate file processing functionality of the software. The attack vector is particularly concerning in enterprise environments where users frequently open design files from external sources or collaborate using shared file systems.
Organizations should prioritize immediate remediation through Adobe's security patches, as the vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple information disclosure to enable more sophisticated attacks. The recommended mitigation strategy involves updating to Adobe Illustrator versions 25.4.4 or 26.0.3, which contain fixes for this memory access issue. Security teams should also implement file validation policies and restrict user access to potentially malicious file types through network-based filtering solutions. Additionally, user awareness training programs should emphasize the importance of verifying file sources and avoiding opening suspicious design files from untrusted sources. The vulnerability's classification under ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for command and scripting interpreter and T1203 for Exploitation for Client Execution highlights the potential for this vulnerability to serve as a launch point for further attacks within compromised systems. Network segmentation and application whitelisting can provide additional defense-in-depth measures to limit the potential impact if an attacker successfully exploits this vulnerability. Organizations should also consider implementing endpoint detection and response solutions that can monitor for unusual file processing behavior or memory access patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts.