Google warns of using Adobe Reader - particularly on Linux


Recommended Posts

Google warns of using Adobe Reader - particularly on Linux

On its August Patch Day, Adobe has fixed numerous critical memory-related bugs in Reader for Windows and Mac OS X ? but has chosen to overlook Linux users. The researchers who discovered the holes now fear that potential attackers could find enough clues to build an exploit by comparing the current Windows version of Reader with the previous one. This would leave Linux users defenceless. On top of that, even the patched versions still contain a total of 16 open security holes.

Google employees Mateusz Jurczyk and Gynvael Coldwind initially examined the PDF engine of the Chrome browser and discovered numerous holes. They then tested Adobe Reader and found about 60 issues that triggered crashes, 40 of which are potential attack vectors. When the two researchers reported their discoveries to Adobe, the company promised to provide fixes ? but also indicated that not all the holes would be closed on Patch Day in August.

On Tuesday, that is exactly what happened. Versions 10.1.4 and 9.5.2 were released for Windows and Mac OS X only. Even these patched versions are still vulnerable to 16 of the reported issues that affect Windows, Mac OS X or both systems. To prove this, the Google employees have released obfuscated information concerning the crashes. The security experts say that the unpatched holes could potentially be identified by third parties because they were found by modifying publicly available PDF documents.

Apparently, the researchers' threat to publish all vulnerability details online in accordance with "responsible disclosure" did not worry Adobe. The deadline is set for 60 days after the day on which the researchers informed Adobe about the holes: 27 August. However, Adobe told the researchers that no further updates are planned in that timeframe.

The Google employees therefore recommend that users refrain from opening any PDF documents from external sources in Adobe Reader. Those who use a browser other than Chrome can protect themselves by disabling the Reader's browser extension. The extension allows the holes to be exploited with a simple visit to a specially crafted web page.

Windows users who still use version 9 of Reader have been advised to upgrade to Adobe Reader X, because this version contains a sandbox that makes exploiting the holes more difficult. While Linux users can fix two of the holes by deleting the annots.api and PPKLite.api plug-ins from the /path/to/Adobe/Reader9/Reader/intellinux/plug_ins directory, this seems like a drop in the ocean when considering the total number of holes that riddle Reader for Linux.

Source: The H Online

I stopped using that bug ridden bloatware on all platforms a long time ago.

What do you use instead? I am also looking for a good replacement.

I use Foxit on Windows, haven't used Adobe reader for about 3 years. It's bloated, slow, and now apparently insecure. And I didn't know the PDF plugin in Chrome was made by Adobe, how do I disable it?

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • DiskGenius 6.2.0.1829 - All Versions: Free, Lite & Portable by Razvan Serea DiskGenius is a full-featured partition manager, which is designed to optimize disk usage for Windows users. It will efficiently help you recover lost data, resize/split partition, backup files, edit hex data, check bad sectors, manage virtual disks, erase data, etc.. Create a system image backup for current Windows with simple clicks to keep the operating system under protection. DiskGenius key features: Partition Management - It can create format, resize, extend, backup, split, hide and clone partition, both MBR and GPT are supported. Disk and partition conversion - Convert dynamic disk to basic, convert virtual disk format and convert MBR to GPT, convert primary partition to logical. File recovery - It can recover files deleted or emptied form recycle bin, recover files from damaged partition or disk and recover files by file type and supports file preview and file filter. Partition recovery - It is the best partition recovery program in that it can recover files from damaged, corrupted and RAW partitions, search for lost partition and recover files from it, besides, it can fix partition table. RAID recovery - It can reconstruct Virtual RAID and recover files from it, and all RAID types are supported. Sector Editor - A Hex editor is embedded to help users edit raw hex data and recover data manually. Backup and Restore - It can backup and restore partition including system partition, hard disk and partition table. Bad Tracks - It can check and repair bad sectors for all storage devices; check hard disk S.M.A.R.T. information. Delete files permanently - It can delete files permanently so that they can't be recovered by any data recovery software. Virtual Disk - It supports virtual disks, including VMware, Virtual PC and Virtual Box. Create WinPE bootable disk and you can manage disk partition when system crashes or there is no operating system on your computer. Support FAT12/FAT16/FAt32/exFAT/NTFS/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4 file system format. DiskGenius 6.2.0.1829 changelog: Add the "Disk Speed Test" feature. Add the "Windows Boot Repair and Conversion" feature. Add the BMB21-2019 erase standard to the "Erase Sectors" feature. Add support for restoring an individual partition from a PMFX disk image file. Enhanced The "Verify Or Repair Bad Sectors/Blocks" feature displays disk read speed in the detection window during scanning. The "Quick Partition" dialog box allows users to quickly select the number of partitions by pressing the numeric keys 1, 2, 7, 8, or 9. The "Set Volume Name" dialog box supports selecting preset volume labels provided by the software. The "Copy Sectors" feature supports resuming copy tasks after modifying the number of skipped bad sectors. Add the "TRIM Optimization" option to the format dialog box. The "Clone Partition" and "Clone Disk" features perform TRIM optimization on target partitions or disks before cloning. Add support for Not Equal To search conditions (prefixed with "!") when searching hexadecimal data in the sector editor. Optimize the display of capacity values in the program interface to show two decimal places. Add a minimize button to dialogs that may require long processing time. Enhance support for the ReFS file system. Enhance support for newer HIF and MP4 formats when recovering files by type. Enhance support for the EXT4 file system. Enhance compatibility of the "File Recovery" feature with special data structures. Fixed Fixed the issue that the selected file system type automatically reverted to NTFS after changing it to exFAT or EXT4 in the "Quick Partition" dialog box. Fixed inaccurate Unicode string search results in the "Sector Editor" feature. Fixed the issue that exceptions might occur when adding multiple disks in the "Erase Sectors" feature. Fixed the issue that insufficient target disk space was incorrectly reported in some cases when cloning, backing up, or restoring disks. Fixed the issue that folder modification timestamps were not preserved when copying files from ReFS partitions. Fixed the issue that Excel-format reports generated by features such as file copying or bad sector checking could not be opened when the report contained more than one million rows. Fixed the issue that folders were not displayed in the exclude-folder dialog box when backing up partitions to image files. Fixed the issue that the "Erase Sectors" feature could not be executed in some cases. Download: DiskGenius 6.2.0.1829 | 63.9 MB (Freeware, paid upgrade available) Download: DiskGenius Portable 64-bit | 40.0 MB Download: DiskGenius Portable 32-bit | 36.0 MB Download: DiskGenius Lite 64-bit | 13.4 MB Download: DiskGenius Lite 32-bit | 11.6 MB View: DiskGenius Home Page | DiskGenius Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Really? Use a better search engine https://www.google.com/search?...ourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
    • Seems like Neowin has transitioned into being simps for the white house. I can't find a review for the last UFC games that came out.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      agatameier earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      agatameier earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      ssd21345 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Contributor
      MarkHughes4096 went up a rank
      Contributor
    • Dedicated
      jordanspringer earned a badge
      Dedicated
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      513
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      182
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      143
    4. 4
      ATLien_0
      95
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      76
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!