0-Day exploit in Adobe Reader is about to hit the public in coming weeks
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0-Day exploit in Adobe Reader is about to hit the public in coming weeks
Saw this on a computer site im on.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%">Adobe warns of Reader, Acrobat attack in the wild
</span><span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:100%">By Robert McMillan | December 15, 2009</span>
Adobe is investigating new reports that hackers are attacking a previously unknown bug in the latest version of the company's Reader and Acrobat software.
"This afternoon, Adobe received reports of a vulnerability in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.2 and earlier versions being exploited in the wild," Adobe wrote in a <u><span style="color:#0000ff">post</span></u> to its Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) blog Monday afternoon. "We are currently investigating this issue and assessing the risk to our customers."
[ See also: <span style="color:#000030">Another Day, Another Adobe Security Hole</span> ]
Adobe had few details on the reported problem. "As soon as we have additional details, we will update the PSIRT blog," a spokeswoman said in an e-mail message.
Adobe learned of the attack on Monday, said Brad Arkin, Adobe's director of product security and privacy. "Three different partners in the security community shared samples of the same attack with us within a few minutes of each other this afternoon," he said via instant message.
The criminals are exploiting this flaw by sending malicious PDF files to victims, according to the volunteer-run malware tracking group Shadowserver.
"This is legit and is very bad," Shadowserver said in a <u><span style="color:#0000ff">post to its Web site</span></u> late Monday. Shadowserver could not be reached immediately for comment.
Shadowserver said that several "tests have confirmed this is a 0-day vulnerability affecting several versions of Adobe Acrobat [Reader] to include the most recent versions of 8.x and 9.x. We have not tested on 7.x, but it may also be vulnerable."
The vulnerability is due to a bug in the way Reader processes JavaScript code, according to Shadowserver. The group recommends that concerned users disable JavaScript within Adobe's software as a work-around for this problem. (This can be done by un-checking the "Enable Acrobat JavaScript" in the Edit -> Preferences -> JavaScript window)
Security experts say that running malicious JavaScript code within Reader has become a favorite hacking technique this year.
The attack has been used by cybercriminals since at least Friday, but has not seen any widespread use, Shadowserver said. "Expect the exploit to become more wide spread in the next few weeks and unfortunately potentially become fully public within the same timeframe."
Most antivirus products do not yet detect the attack, Shadowserver noted.
With Reader and Acrobat installed on most of the world's PCs, the products have become an increasingly attractive target for computer hackers who take advantage of flaws in the system to run unauthorized programs on victims' PCs.
<span style="color:#000030">Source: <a href="http://www.itworld.com/software/89209/adobe-warns-reader-acrobat-attack-wild" target="_blank">http://www.itworld.com/software/89209/adob...bat-attack-wild</span></a>
Few others: <ul>[*]Can anyone beat Microsoft when it comes to churning out insecure products? Ladies and gentleman, may I introduce you to Adobe.
<span style="color:#000030">http://www.itwire.com/content/view/28585/53/</span>[*]Malware torrent delivered over Google, Yahoo! ad services
<span style="color:#000030">http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09..._google_yahoo/</span>[*]Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: Adobe Reader
<span style="color:#000030">http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvekey....d=Adobe+Reader</span>[/list]</div>
Some of you probably are smart enough to figure this out yourselves, so consider these recommendations for your family members and whatnot. <ul>[*]Disable the Adobe Reader plugin in all web browsers. This will prevent attackers from sticking a PDF in an iframe as a means of exploiting Reader through its plugin. Get it?[*]Disable JavaScript in Adobe Reader.[*]Use a different PDF reader, deferring to Adobe Reader only when its features are needed. I recommend SumatraPDF.[*]Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I recommend preventing Adobe Reader from having admin access, ever. Microsoft makes a program called DropMyRights, but by using IFEO combined with a faux debugger and wrapper for DropMyRights, you can actually ensure that any execution of Adobe Reader is always with limited access. Case in point: StripMyRights. <span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:100%">[<span style="color:#000030">info</span>, <span style="color:#000030">download</span>]</span>[/list]
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%">Adobe warns of Reader, Acrobat attack in the wild
</span><span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:100%">By Robert McMillan | December 15, 2009</span>
Adobe is investigating new reports that hackers are attacking a previously unknown bug in the latest version of the company's Reader and Acrobat software.
"This afternoon, Adobe received reports of a vulnerability in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.2 and earlier versions being exploited in the wild," Adobe wrote in a <u><span style="color:#0000ff">post</span></u> to its Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) blog Monday afternoon. "We are currently investigating this issue and assessing the risk to our customers."
[ See also: <span style="color:#000030">Another Day, Another Adobe Security Hole</span> ]
Adobe had few details on the reported problem. "As soon as we have additional details, we will update the PSIRT blog," a spokeswoman said in an e-mail message.
Adobe learned of the attack on Monday, said Brad Arkin, Adobe's director of product security and privacy. "Three different partners in the security community shared samples of the same attack with us within a few minutes of each other this afternoon," he said via instant message.
The criminals are exploiting this flaw by sending malicious PDF files to victims, according to the volunteer-run malware tracking group Shadowserver.
"This is legit and is very bad," Shadowserver said in a <u><span style="color:#0000ff">post to its Web site</span></u> late Monday. Shadowserver could not be reached immediately for comment.
Shadowserver said that several "tests have confirmed this is a 0-day vulnerability affecting several versions of Adobe Acrobat [Reader] to include the most recent versions of 8.x and 9.x. We have not tested on 7.x, but it may also be vulnerable."
The vulnerability is due to a bug in the way Reader processes JavaScript code, according to Shadowserver. The group recommends that concerned users disable JavaScript within Adobe's software as a work-around for this problem. (This can be done by un-checking the "Enable Acrobat JavaScript" in the Edit -> Preferences -> JavaScript window)
Security experts say that running malicious JavaScript code within Reader has become a favorite hacking technique this year.
The attack has been used by cybercriminals since at least Friday, but has not seen any widespread use, Shadowserver said. "Expect the exploit to become more wide spread in the next few weeks and unfortunately potentially become fully public within the same timeframe."
Most antivirus products do not yet detect the attack, Shadowserver noted.
With Reader and Acrobat installed on most of the world's PCs, the products have become an increasingly attractive target for computer hackers who take advantage of flaws in the system to run unauthorized programs on victims' PCs.
<span style="color:#000030">Source: <a href="http://www.itworld.com/software/89209/adobe-warns-reader-acrobat-attack-wild" target="_blank">http://www.itworld.com/software/89209/adob...bat-attack-wild</span></a>
Few others: <ul>[*]Can anyone beat Microsoft when it comes to churning out insecure products? Ladies and gentleman, may I introduce you to Adobe.
<span style="color:#000030">http://www.itwire.com/content/view/28585/53/</span>[*]Malware torrent delivered over Google, Yahoo! ad services
<span style="color:#000030">http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09..._google_yahoo/</span>[*]Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: Adobe Reader
<span style="color:#000030">http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvekey....d=Adobe+Reader</span>[/list]</div>
Some of you probably are smart enough to figure this out yourselves, so consider these recommendations for your family members and whatnot. <ul>[*]Disable the Adobe Reader plugin in all web browsers. This will prevent attackers from sticking a PDF in an iframe as a means of exploiting Reader through its plugin. Get it?[*]Disable JavaScript in Adobe Reader.[*]Use a different PDF reader, deferring to Adobe Reader only when its features are needed. I recommend SumatraPDF.[*]Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I recommend preventing Adobe Reader from having admin access, ever. Microsoft makes a program called DropMyRights, but by using IFEO combined with a faux debugger and wrapper for DropMyRights, you can actually ensure that any execution of Adobe Reader is always with limited access. Case in point: StripMyRights. <span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:100%">[<span style="color:#000030">info</span>, <span style="color:#000030">download</span>]</span>[/list]