Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat JBIG2 Image Stream Remote Code Execution

Notification Type: IBM Internet Security Systems Protection Alert
Notification Date: Feb. 20, 2009
Notification Version: 1.6
   
Name:

Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat JBIG2 Image Stream Remote Code Execution

Public disclosure/
In the wild date:
Feb. 13, 2009 (targeted exploitation), Feb. 20, 2009 (vendor vuln disclosure), Feb. 16, 2009 (integration into spam/exploit bots)
Aliases:

Adobe Security Bulletin APSB09-01

CVE:

CVE-2009-0658

Description:

Adobe Acrobat Reader and Adobe Acrobat 9.0 and earlier are vulnerable to a vulnerability that would allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code on a remote system by enticing a user to open a specially-crafted PDF file.  Targeted exploitation was reported on Feb. 13, 2009, and public proof-of-concept exploits are expected over the weekend of Feb. 20th.  On March 16, 2009, exploits were picked up in the wild from spam/exploit bots and were no longer limited to targeted exploitation.

 

ISS Coverage

Product Content Version

Network Sensor 7.0
Proventia A
Proventia IPS (G/GX)
Server Sensor 7.0
Proventia Multifunction Appliance
Proventia Mail
Proventia Server (Linux)

XPU 28.020
Proventia Server (Windows)
Proventia Desktop
2160
Enterprise Scanner

1.51

Internet Scanner

7.2.68

Propagation Techniques ISS Protection Available
remote exploit PDF_JavaScript_Exploit
PDF_JavaScript_Detected
JavaScript_NOOP_Sled
JavaScript_Shellcode_Detected
Feb 13, 2008
JBIG2_Adobe_Index_Error
JBIG2_Adobe_Integer_Overflow
Mar 10, 2009
Detection Techniques ISS Detection Available
remote scanning AdobeAcrobatReaderImageBo March 11, 2009 (ES)
April 14, 2009 (IS)

Detailed Description

Business Impact: This vulnerability could result in remote code execution if a victim opens a specially crafted Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) document in an affected version of Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat.  As always, ensure that documents like PDFs come from a trusted source before opening them.
CVSS: Base Score: 9.3
  Access Vector: Remote
Access Complexity: Medium
Authentication: None
Confidentiality Impact: Complete
Integrity Impact: Complete
Availability Impact: Complete
Impact Bias: Normal 
Adjusted Temporal Score: 8.5
  Exploitability: High
Remediation Level: Official fix
Report Confidence: Confirmed 
Affected Products: For a full list of affected software and versions, see references below.
Technical Description:

Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader are vulnerable to a buffer overflow, caused by improper bounds checking of embedded JBIG2 image streams. By persuading a victim to open a specially-crafted .PDF file, a remote attacker could overflow a buffer and execute arbitrary code on the system with privileges of the victim or cause the application to crash.

Remediation:

Patches were made available on  March 10, 2009.  IBM ISS customers should also enable protection described in this alert.

References

Adobe: http://www.adobe.com/support/security/advisories/apsa09-01.html
XFDB: http://xforce.iss.net/xforce/xfdb/48825
FrequencyX: http://blogs.iss.net/archive/JBIG2goingBIG.html

Revision History

1.0 Initial publication.
1.1 Added an additional signature, updated CVSS score, and added XFDB reference.
1.2 Corrected links to Content Updates.
1.3 Added signature coverage for potential attack vectors.
1.4 Added information about active exploitation and patch availability.  Also updated CVSS score.
1.5 Added FrequencyX blog reference.
1.6 Added Enterprise Scanner and Internet Scanner coverage.

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