Accessibility
Adobe
Sign in Privacy My Adobe

Security bulletin

Security updates available for Adobe Reader and Acrobat

Release date: August 19, 2010

Vulnerability identifier: APSB10-17

CVE numbers: CVE-2010-2862, CVE-2010-1240

Platform: All Platforms

Summary

Critical vulnerabilities have been identified in Adobe Reader 9.3.3 (and earlier versions) for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX, Adobe Acrobat 9.3.3 (and earlier versions) for Windows and Macintosh, and Adobe Reader 8.2.3 (and earlier versions) and Adobe Acrobat 8.2.3 (and earlier versions) 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.

These updates address CVE-2010-2862, which was discussed at the Black Hat USA 2010 security conference on Wednesday, July 28, 2010. They also incorporate the Adobe Flash Player update as noted in Security Bulletin APSB10-16.

Adobe recommends users of Adobe Reader 9.3.3 and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX update to Adobe Reader 9.3.4. (For Adobe Reader users on Windows and Macintosh, who cannot update to Adobe Reader 9.3.4, Adobe has provided the Adobe Reader 8.2.4 update.) Adobe recommends users of Adobe Acrobat 9.3.3 and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh update to Adobe Acrobat 9.3.4. Adobe recommends users of Adobe Acrobat 8.2.3 and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh update to Adobe Acrobat 8.2.4.

Note that today's updates mentioned in this bulletin represent an out-of-cycle release. The next quarterly security updates for Adobe Reader and Acrobat is scheduled for October 12, 2010.

Affected software versions

  • Adobe Reader 9.3.3 and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX
  • Adobe Acrobat 9.3.3 and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh

Solution

Adobe recommends users update their software installations by following the instructions below:

Adobe Reader
Users can utilize the product's update mechanism. The default configuration is set to run automatic update checks on a regular schedule and can be manually activated by choosing Help > Check for Updates.

Adobe Reader users on Windows can also find the appropriate update here:
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=10&platform=Windows.

Adobe Reader users on Macintosh can also find the appropriate update here:
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=10&platform=Macintosh.

Adobe Reader users on UNIX can find the appropriate update here:
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=10&platform=Unix.

Note: Adobe Reader 9.3.4 for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX will be available from the Adobe Reader Download Center at http://get.adobe.com/reader/ by August 31, 2010.

Adobe Acrobat
Users can utilize the product's update mechanism. The default configuration is set to run automatic update checks on a regular schedule and can be manually activated by choosing Help > Check for Updates.

Acrobat Standard and Pro users on Windows can also find the appropriate update here:
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=1&platform=Windows.

Acrobat Pro Extended users on Windows can also find the appropriate update here: http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=158&platform=Windows.

Acrobat 3D users on Windows can also find the appropriate update here:
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=112&platform=Windows.

Acrobat Pro users on Macintosh can also find the appropriate update here:
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=1&platform=Macintosh.

Severity rating

Adobe categorizes these as critical updates and recommends that users apply the latest updates for their product installations.

Details

Critical vulnerabilities have been identified in Adobe Reader 9.3.3 (and earlier versions) for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX, Adobe Acrobat 9.3.3 (and earlier versions) for Windows and Macintosh, and Adobe Reader 8.2.3 (and earlier versions) and Adobe Acrobat 8.2.3 (and earlier versions) 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 recommends users of Adobe Reader 9.3.3 and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX update to Adobe Reader 9.3.4. (For Adobe Reader users on Windows and Macintosh, who cannot update to Adobe Reader 9.3.4, Adobe has provided the Adobe Reader 8.2.4 update.) Adobe recommends users of Adobe Acrobat 9.3.3 and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh update to Adobe Acrobat 9.3.4. Adobe recommends users of Adobe Acrobat 8.2.3 and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh update to Adobe Acrobat 8.2.4.

These updates resolve an integer overflow vulnerability that could lead to code execution (CVE-2010-2862).

These updates further mitigate a social engineering attack that could lead to code execution (CVE-2010-1240).

These updates incorporate the Adobe Flash Player update as noted in Security Bulletin APSB10-16.

Acknowledgements

Adobe would like to thank Tavis Ormandy of the Google Security Team for reporting CVE-2010-2862 and for working with Adobe to help protect our customers.