CVE-2023-38232 in Acrobat Reader
Summary
by MITRE • 08/10/2023
Adobe Acrobat Reader versions 23.003.20244 (and earlier) and 20.005.30467 (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 • 08/10/2023
Adobe Acrobat Reader contains a critical out-of-bounds read vulnerability that affects multiple versions including 23.003.20244 and earlier, as well as 20.005.30467 and earlier releases. This vulnerability stems from improper bounds checking within the application's handling of specially crafted PDF files, allowing an attacker to read memory locations beyond the intended buffer boundaries. The flaw manifests when the application processes malformed input data without adequate validation, potentially exposing sensitive information stored in adjacent memory regions. Such memory disclosure can reveal critical system information including stack canaries, heap addresses, and other security-related data that would otherwise remain protected from unauthorized access.
The technical nature of this vulnerability places it squarely within the CWE-129 category of Improper Input Validation, specifically manifesting as an out-of-bounds read condition that can be exploited through memory corruption techniques. This type of vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it can be leveraged to bypass modern exploit mitigations such as Address Space Layout Randomization, which relies on the assumption that memory addresses remain unpredictable and inaccessible to attackers. When an attacker successfully exploits this vulnerability, they can potentially gather enough information to defeat ASLR protections and subsequently craft more sophisticated attacks that could lead to arbitrary code execution.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant given that Adobe Acrobat Reader remains one of the most widely used PDF viewers across enterprise environments and individual users. The exploitation requires user interaction through opening a malicious file, making it susceptible to social engineering attacks such as phishing campaigns or compromised websites. This user interaction requirement does not mitigate the risk significantly since PDF files are commonly encountered in business communications and can be delivered through various attack vectors including email attachments, web downloads, and malicious document repositories. Organizations using older versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader are particularly vulnerable as these versions lack the necessary patches to address the out-of-bounds read condition.
Security professionals should prioritize immediate remediation by updating to patched versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader, as recommended by Adobe's security advisories. The vulnerability's exploitation potential makes it a high-priority target for threat actors seeking to establish persistent access to compromised systems. Organizations should implement additional defensive measures including email filtering, web proxy scanning for malicious PDF content, and network monitoring for suspicious file transfers. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution, where adversaries leverage application vulnerabilities to execute malicious code on target systems. System administrators should also consider implementing application whitelisting policies to restrict execution of untrusted PDF files and employ sandboxing technologies to isolate PDF processing activities from critical system resources.