Note: This is an archival copy of Security Sun Alert 259028 as previously published on http://sunsolve.sun.com.
Latest version of this security advisory is available from http://support.oracle.com as Sun Alert 1020468.1.
Article ID : 1020468.1
Article Type : Sun Alerts (SURE)
Last reviewed : 2010-12-05
Audience : PUBLIC
Copyright Notice: Copyright © 2010, Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates.

Multiple Security Vulnerabilities in Adobe Reader for Solaris 10 May Allow Execution of Arbitrary Code or Cause Denial of Service (DoS)



Category
Security

Release Phase
Resolved

Bug Id
6836837

Product
Solaris 10 Operating System

Date of Workaround Release
13-May-2009

Date of Resolved Release
02-Sep-2009

Multiple Security Vulnerabilities in Adobe Reader for Solaris 10 ... see below for full details:

1. Impact

Multiple security vulnerabilities in Adobe Reader 9.1 and earlier for
Solaris 10 may allow remote unprivileged users to execute arbitrary code
or crash the Adobe Reader application, thereby causing a Denial of
Service (DoS) condition. These vulnerabilities may be exploited via
specially crafted PDF files.

Following resources document these issues in more detail.


2. Contributing Factors

These issues can occur in the following release:

SPARC Platform

  • Solaris 10 without patch 121104-08

Notes:

1. Solaris 8, Solaris 9, Solaris 10 on the x86 platform and OpenSolaris
do not ship Adobe Reader and therefore are not affected by this issue.

2. All versions of Adobe Reader up to and including version 7.0.9 and
versions 8.0 through 9.1 are affected by these issues.

To determine the version of Adobe Reader installed on the system, the
following command can be run:

	$ /usr/bin/acroread -version
7.0.1

Earlier versions of Adobe Reader on Solaris 10 only shipped acroread in
/usr/sfw/bin which do not support the '-version' option, so for such
instances, the following command can be used instead:

	$ cat `pkgchk -l -P AcroVersion | awk '/Pathname/ { print $2 }'`
5.0.10

3. Symptoms

If the described issues have been exploited to cause a Denial of Service
(DoS), the Adobe Reader application will crash, potentially leaving a
core file depending on the system configuration.

There are no predictable symptoms that would indicate that these issues
have been exploited to execute arbitrary code.


4. Workaround

To avoid the described issues, do not load PDF files from untrusted sources.

Disabling JavaScript prevents these vulnerabilities from being
exploited. Acrobat JavaScript can be disabled in the General preferences
dialog of Adobe Reader with the following:

    1. Edit -> Preferences

    2. Select the JavaScript category.

    3. Un-check 'Enable Acrobat JavaScript'

    4. Click OK.

Until patches can be applied, the risk of these vulnerabilities can be
mitigated by preventing PDF documents from being opened automatically by
the Web browser. In Firefox 2.0, this can be set by changing the default
action for PDF documents with the following:

    1. Open the Preferences dialog from the Edit menu

    2. Select Contents tab.

    3. Click on Manage button in File Types block.

    4. Select PDF in the list and click Change Action.

    5. Select 'Save them on my computer' option and click OK.

Note that this workaround will reduce the risk of exploitation but will not prevent the issue from being exploited.



5. Resolution

These issues are addressed in the following release:

SPARC Platform

  • Solaris 10 with patch 121104-08 or later


For more information on Security Sun Alerts, see


Modification History
22-May-2009: Updated Workaround section
02-Sep-2009: Updated Contributing Factors and Resolution sections. Now resolved.


References

121104-08

References

SUNPATCH:121104-08



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