CVE-2019-8186
📋 TL;DR
This critical vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader allows attackers to execute arbitrary code by exploiting an out-of-bounds write memory corruption issue. Successful exploitation could give attackers full control of affected systems. All users running vulnerable versions of Adobe Acrobat or Reader are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Adobe Acrobat DC
- Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
- Adobe Acrobat 2017
- Adobe Acrobat Reader 2017
- Adobe Acrobat 2015
- Adobe Acrobat Reader 2015
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise with attacker gaining full control, data theft, ransomware deployment, and lateral movement within the network.
Likely Case
Malicious PDF documents delivered via email or web downloads lead to system compromise, credential theft, and malware installation.
If Mitigated
With proper patching and security controls, impact is limited to isolated incidents that can be contained through endpoint detection and response.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction to open a malicious PDF file. The vulnerability is memory corruption-based and reliable exploitation techniques are well-documented for similar CWE-787 issues.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Acrobat DC/Reader DC: 2019.012.20056 or later; Acrobat 2017/Reader 2017: 2017.011.30166 or later; Acrobat 2015/Reader 2015: 2015.006.30523 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/acrobat/apsb19-49.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Adobe Acrobat or Reader. 2. Go to Help > Check for Updates. 3. Follow prompts to download and install updates. 4. Restart the application. 5. Verify update by checking Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable JavaScript in Adobe Reader
allDisabling JavaScript reduces attack surface as many PDF exploits rely on JavaScript execution.
Edit > Preferences > JavaScript > Uncheck 'Enable Acrobat JavaScript'
Use Protected View
allEnable Protected View for files from potentially unsafe locations.
Edit > Preferences > Security (Enhanced) > Enable Protected View at startup
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement application whitelisting to block unauthorized PDF readers
- Deploy network segmentation to isolate PDF processing systems from critical assets
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Adobe Acrobat/Reader version via Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader and compare against vulnerable versions listed in advisory.Check Version:
On Windows: wmic product where "name like 'Adobe Acrobat%'" get version; On macOS: /usr/bin/mdls -name kMDItemVersion /Applications/Adobe\ Acrobat\ Reader\ DC.appVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 2019.012.20056 or later for DC, 2017.011.30166 or later for 2017, or 2015.006.30523 or later for 2015.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Adobe Acrobat/Reader crash logs with memory access violations
- Windows Event Logs showing application crashes (Event ID 1000)
- Unexpected child processes spawned from AcroRd32.exe or Acrobat.exe
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections from Adobe processes to unknown IPs
- DNS requests for suspicious domains following PDF file opens
SIEM Query:
source="*" ("Acrobat.exe" OR "AcroRd32.exe") ("crash" OR "access violation" OR "0xC0000005")