Zero-day vulnerability in Adobe Reader

Improper validation of array index
CVE-2009-3953

The vulnerability was used in spear-phishing attacks in December, 2009.

Vulnerability details

Advisory: SB2010011201 - Multiple vulnerabilities in Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat

Vulnerable component: Adobe Reader

CVE-ID: CVE-2009-3953

CVSSv3 score: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:H/RL:O/RC:C

CWE-ID: CWE-129 - Improper Validation of Array Index

Description:

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the target system.

The weakness exists due to array indexing error in U3D support. A remote attacker can create a specially crafted .pdf file, trick the victim into opening it, trigger memory corruption and execute arbitrary code on the target system with privileges of the current user.

Successful exploitation of the vulnerability results in arbitrary code execution on the vulnerable system.

Note: this vulnerability is being actively exploited.

Public Exploits:

- Adobe - U3D CLODProgressiveMeshDeclaration Array Overrun (Metasploit) (2) [Exploit-DB]

External links:

http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb10-02.html
http://contagiodump.blogspot.com/2009/12/blog-post.html
http://www1.auscert.org.au/render.html?it=12263&cid=1980&textbox=true
http://www.malwaretracker.com/pdfthreat.php

About zero-day vulnerabilities

Zero-day vulnerability is an undisclosed vulnerability in software that hackers can exploit to compromise computer programs, gain unauthorized access to sensitive data, penetrate networks, etc. We consider vulnerability a zero-day when there is no solution provided from software vendor and the vulnerability is being actively exploited by malicious actors.

Zero-day candidate is a potential zero-day vulnerability in software which might have been used in targeted attacks, however there is no evidence to support this suggestion.