Adobe security alert.

January 12, 2010

Advisory overview

Qualys Vulnerability R&D Lab has released new vulnerability checks in the Enterprise TruRisk Platform to protect organizations against 9 vulnerabilities that were fixed in 1 bulletins announced today by Adobe. Customers can immediately audit their networks for these and other new vulnerabilities by accessing their Qualys subscription. Visit Qualys Security Blog to prioritize remediation.

Non-Qualys customers can audit their network for these and other vulnerabilities by signing up for a Qualys Free Trial, or by trying Qualys Community Edition.

Vulnerability details

Adobe has released 1 security bulletins to fix newly discovered flaws in their software. Qualys has released the following checks for these new vulnerabilities:

  • Adobe Reader and Acrobat Vulnerability (APSA09-07, APSB10-02)

    Severity
    Urgent 5
    Qualys ID
    116768
    Vendor Reference
    APSA09-07, APSB10-02, Adobe Zero day
    CVE Reference
    CVE-2009-3953, CVE-2009-3954, CVE-2009-3955, CVE-2009-3956, CVE-2009-3957, CVE-2009-3958, CVE-2009-3959, CVE-2009-4324, CVE-2010-1278
    CVSS Scores
    Base 10 / Temporal 8.7
    Description
    Adobe Reader and Acrobat are Portable Document Format (PDF) reader and processor developed by Adobe Systems, designed to view, create, manipulate and manage files in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF).

    Critical vulnerabilities have been identified in Adobe Reader 9.2 and Acrobat 9.2 for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX, and Adobe Reader 8.1.7 and Acrobat 8.1.7 for Windows and Macintosh. These vulnerabilities could cause the application to crash and could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.

    Adobe has released updates to resolve the following vulnerabilities:

    - A use-after-free vulnerability in Multimedia.api that could lead to code execution (CVE-2009-4324).
    Note: There are reports of this issue being actively exploited in the wild; the exploit targets Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.2 on Windows platforms.

    - An array boundary issue in U3D support that could lead to code execution (CVE-2009-3953).
    Note: This issue had been incorrectly identified as a previously fixed vulnerability (CVE-2009-2994) in the Metasploit framework.

    - A DLL-loading vulnerability in 3D that could allow arbitrary code execution (CVE-2009-3954).

    - A memory corruption vulnerability that could lead to code execution (CVE-2009-3955).

    - A script injection vulnerability by changing the Enhanced Security default (CVE-2009-3956).

    - A null-pointer dereference vulnerability that could lead to denial of service (CVE-2009-3957).

    A buffer overflow vulnerability in the Download Manager that could lead to code execution (CVE-2009-3958).

    - An integer overflow vulnerability in U3D support that could lead to code execution (CVE-2009-3959).

    Consequence
    Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.
    Solution
    Adobe has released updates to resolve this issue. Refer to Adobe Security Bulletin APSB10-02 to obtain patch details. Also refer to Adobe Security Advisory APSA09-07 to obtain additional details on the vulnerability.

    Workaround:
    The vendor has recommended the following mitigation techniques until a patch is applied.

    Customers using Adobe Reader or Acrobat versions 9.2 or 8.1.7 can utilize the JavaScript Blacklist Framework to prevent this vulnerability. Please refer to the Adobe TechNote for more information.

    Customers who are not able to utilize the JavaScript Blacklist functionality can mitigate the issue by disabling JavaScript in Adobe Reader and Acrobat using the instructions below:

    1) Launch Acrobat or Adobe Reader.
    2) Select Edit>Preferences.
    3) Select the JavaScript Category.
    4) Uncheck the "Enable Acrobat JavaScript" option.
    5) Click OK.

    Customers using Microsoft DEP (Data Execution Prevention) functionality available in certain versions of Microsoft Windows are at reduced risk in the following configurations:

    All versions of Adobe Reader 9 running on Windows Vista SP1 or Windows 7
    Acrobat 9.2 running on Windows Vista SP1 or Windows 7
    Acrobat and Adobe Reader 9.2 running on Windows XP SP3
    Acrobat and Adobe Reader 8.1.7 running on Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista SP1, or Windows 7

    Patches:
    The following are links for downloading patches to fix these vulnerabilities:
    APSA09-07, APSB10-02 Mac OS(Acrobat Pro)
    APSA09-07, APSB10-02 Mac OS(Adobe Reader)
    APSA09-07, APSB10-02 Unix(Adobe Reader)
    APSA09-07, APSB10-02 Windows(Acrobat 3D)
    APSA09-07, APSB10-02 Windows(Acrobat Pro Extended)
    APSA09-07, APSB10-02 Windows(Acrobat Standard and Pro)
    APSA09-07, APSB10-02 Windows(Adobe Reader)

These new vulnerability checks are included in Qualys vulnerability signature 1.24.99-3. Each Qualys account is automatically updated with the latest vulnerability signatures as they become available. To view the vulnerability signature version in your account, from the Qualys Help menu, select the About tab.

Selective Scan Instructions Using Qualys

To perform a selective vulnerability scan, configure a scan profile to use the following options:

  1. Ensure access to TCP ports 135 and 139 are available.
  2. Enable Windows Authentication (specify Authentication Records).
  3. Enable the following Qualys IDs:
    • 116768
  4. If you would like the scan to return the Windows Hostname, also include QID 82044 and ensure access to UDP port 137 is available.
  5. If you would like to be notified if Qualys is unable to log on to a host (if Authentication fails), also include QID 105015.

In addition, prior to running a scan for these new vulnerabilities, you can estimate your exposure to these new threats by running the Risk Analysis Report, available from the Qualys Vulnerability Management Reports tab.

Access for Qualys Customers

Platforms and Platform Identification

Technical Support

For more information, customers may contact Qualys Technical Support.

About Qualys

The Enterprise TruRisk Platform and its integrated suite of security and compliance applications provides organizations of all sizes with a global view of their security and compliance solutions, while drastically reducing their total cost of ownership. Qualys solutions include: continuous monitoring, vulnerability management, policy compliance, PCI compliance, security assessment questionnaire, web application scanning, web application firewall, malware detection and SECURE Seal for security testing of web sites.