CVE-2007-5659
Published: 12 February 2008
Summary
CVE-2007-5659 is a high-severity Classic Buffer Overflow (CWE-120) vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).
Operationally, ranked in the top 0.2% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-16 (Memory Protection) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).
Deeper analysis
Multiple buffer overflows exist in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 8.1.1 and earlier versions, specifically within the JavaScript engine that processes PDF files containing long arguments to unspecified methods. The flaw is tracked as CWE-120 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 7.8, reflecting high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability when triggered.
A remote attacker can supply a crafted PDF that, once opened by a user, executes arbitrary code with the privileges of the reader process. Exploitation requires the victim to open the malicious file but needs no prior authentication or elevated privileges on the target system.
Public advisories referenced for this issue, including those from iDefense, Secunia, and Gentoo, direct users to apply vendor updates that address the buffer overflows; the entry also notes possible overlap with the later CVE-2008-0655.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2007-5631
Vulnerability details
Multiple buffer overflows in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 8.1.1 and earlier allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a PDF file with long arguments to unspecified JavaScript methods. NOTE: this issue might be subsumed by CVE-2008-0655.
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 08 June 2022
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly requires timely application of vendor patches that remediate the buffer overflows in Adobe Reader/Acrobat JavaScript processing.
Enforces memory-protection mechanisms that block exploitation of the CWE-120 buffer overflows when malicious PDFs are opened.
Allows disabling or restricting JavaScript execution within PDF readers, eliminating the attack vector described in the CVE.