Critical Vulnerabilities in Adobe Reader and Acrobat Products

(APSB10-02)

Introduction

On January 12, 2010 Adobe released its quarterly security update for Adobe Reader and Acrobat. The update addresses critical vulnerabilities that have been identified in the way multiple versions of Adobe Reader and Acrobat process malformed PDF files. Exploitation of these vulnerabilities could lead to arbitrary code execution or cause the system to crash.

Products Affected

Products affected are Adobe Reader 9.2 and Acrobat 9.2, Adobe Reader 8.1.7 and Acrobat 8.1.7 for Windows and Macintosh, and Adobe Reader 9.2 for UNIX. These vulnerabilities would cause the application to crash and could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.

Adobe Reader and Acrobat is a family of computer programs developed by Adobe Systems, designed to view, create, manipulate and manage files in Adobe's core technology, the Portable Document Format (PDF), a format that has become the de facto standard in the electronic document exchange. Adobe Reader is universal client software that enables users inside and outside the firewall to interact with electronic documents online or offline. Adobe Reader and Acrobat are widely used by govern­ment organizations, corporations, and individuals around the world.

Vulnerabilities and Protections

Adobe has issued patches for these vulnerabilities as part of its quarterly security update. Check Point recommends applying these patches and the additional Check Point protections referenced below.

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(CVE-2009-4324)

This update resolves a previously published issue addressed in Adobe’s APSA09-07 Security Advisory (December 15, 2009). This is a critical vulnerability in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.2 and earlier on Windows, Macintosh and UNIX and reportedly actively exploited in the wild. Check Point provided immediate protection against this vulnerability on December 16, 2009.

In addition, Check Point provides protections against the following vulnerabilities: