Adobe Acrobat Pro DC PostScript CharString Directory NULL Pointer Dereference Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

October 15th, 2019
ZDI-19-871 ZDI-CAN-8744

CVE ID

CVE-2019-8171

CVSS Score

7.8 AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected Vendors

Adobe

Affected Products

Acrobat Pro DC

Vulnerability Details

This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Adobe Acrobat Pro DC. User interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability in that the target must visit a malicious page or open a malicious file.

The specific flaw exists within the processing of CharString Directory commands in PostScript. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of user-supplied data, which can trigger a write to an array based at address zero. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current process.

Additional Details

Adobe has issued an update to correct this vulnerability. More details can be found at:
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/acrobat/apsb19-49.html

Disclosure Timeline

  • 2019-06-13 - Vulnerability reported to vendor
  • 2019-10-15 - Coordinated public release of advisory

Credit

Steven Seeley (mr_me) of Source Incite

Back to Advisories