Security Resilience

CVE-2009-0927

Memory Safety in Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0 – 7.1.1

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedPublic PoCMemory Safety
Published
19 March 2009
Modified
22 April 2026
KEV Added
25 March 2022
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.97 99.9th percentile
Risk Priority 90 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2009-0927 is a high-severity Improper Input Validation (CWE-20) vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow (T1003.008); ranked in the top 0.1% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

The vulnerability is a stack-based buffer overflow, identified as CWE-121 and related to improper input validation under CWE-20, that affects Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat versions 9 before 9.1, 8 before 8.1.3, and 7 before 7.1.1. It is triggered specifically by a crafted argument supplied to the getIcon method of a Collab object and is distinct from CVE-2009-0658. The issue received a CVSS 3.1 score of 8.8, reflecting network-accessible attack potential with high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Remote attackers can exploit the flaw to execute arbitrary code on a target system. Exploitation requires user interaction such as opening a malicious document, after which the overflow allows full control over the affected process without needing prior authentication or elevated privileges.

Security advisories from openSUSE and Secunia reference vendor updates that address the vulnerability by upgrading Adobe Reader and Acrobat to the fixed versions listed in the CVE description. These sources also note the availability of corresponding patches for affected distributions and installations.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Stack-based buffer overflow in Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat 9 before 9.1, 8 before 8.1.3 , and 7 before 7.1.1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted argument to the getIcon method of a Collab object, a…

more

different vulnerability than CVE-2009-0658.

CWE(s)
CWE-20CWE-121
KEV Date Added
25 March 2022

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1003.008 /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump the contents of <code>/etc/passwd</code> and <code>/etc/shadow</code> to enable offline password cracking.
attack.mitre.org →
T1007 System Service Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may try to gather information about registered local system services.
attack.mitre.org →
T1012 Query Registry Discovery
Adversaries may interact with the Windows Registry to gather information about the system, configuration, and installed software.
attack.mitre.org →
T1016.002 Wi-Fi Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may search for information about Wi-Fi networks, such as network names and passwords, on compromised systems.
attack.mitre.org →
T1020 Automated Exfiltration Exfiltration
Adversaries may exfiltrate data, such as sensitive documents, through the use of automated processing after being gathered during Collection.
attack.mitre.org →
T1020.001 Traffic Duplication Exfiltration
Adversaries may leverage traffic mirroring in order to automate data exfiltration over compromised infrastructure.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2022-24086Same vendor: Adobeboth on KEV
CVE-2025-54236Same vendor: Adobeboth on KEV
CVE-2014-9163Same vendor: Adobeboth on KEV
CVE-2013-2597Shared CWE-121both on KEV
CVE-2022-35690Same vendor: Adobe
CVE-2023-29284Same vendor: Adobe
CVE-2008-0015Shared CWE-121both on KEV
CVE-2023-21610Same product: Adobe Acrobat Reader
CVE-2023-21604Same product: Adobe Acrobat Reader
CVE-2018-5002Same vendor: Adobeboth on KEV

Affected Assets

adobe
acrobat reader
7.0 — 7.1.1 · 8.0 — 8.1.3 · 9.0 — 9.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 2 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

—

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

PM-14 Testing, Training, and Monitoring
addresses: CWE-20

Security testing and developer training directly verify and enforce proper input validation, reducing exploitability of injection and malformed-data weaknesses.

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation
addresses: CWE-20

Security testing and evaluation at multiple SDLC stages directly detects missing or flawed input validation, with the required remediation process ensuring fixes are applied.

SI-10 Information Input Validation
addresses: CWE-20

Directly implements checks on information inputs to reject invalid data before processing.

SI-8 Spam Protection
addresses: CWE-20

Spam protection mechanisms perform filtering and detection on inbound/outbound messages, directly compensating for missing or weak input validation of unsolicited content.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

ID.RA-01 partial match
blocks

Vulnerability scanning can discover stack buffer overflows but does not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
blocks

Patching eliminates known instances of the weakness after discovery.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure-development practices directly prevent introduction of stack buffer overflows.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.8.10 Information deletion partial match
removes

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (higher-evidence rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248594 OL 8 must implement address space layout randomization (ASLR) to protect its memory from unauthorized code execution. blocks CWE-121
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
  • V-271452 OL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. blocks CWE-121

References