April 2, 2010, 10:17AM
Foxit Fixes PDF Executable Problem
2 Comments
Foxit on Friday released an update to fix the problem with PDF readers running executables without users' permission. The problem, which was identified and publicized by Didier Stevens earlier this week, still exists in Adobe Reader.
The Foxit security update fixes a problem in the reader in which an attacker can abuse the way that the application handles embedded executables. The technique allows the attacker to force the Foxit Reader to execute embedded files without the getting permission from the user. The problem is caused by a feature in the PDF specification, and isn't a vulnerability in the software itself.
The Foxit update is included in Foxit Reader version 3.2.1.0401.
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Comments
Hey Dennis,
The /launch PoC that Didier Stevens put together triggers a warning dialog in Adobe Reader and Acrobat. The default choice on the dialog is to decline the launch request. The original behavior of FoxIt was to launch with no user interaction. The change that FoxIt introduced with their update last week was to bring the behavior in line with Adobe Reader -- displaying a user dialog box prior to launch. An important difference is the dialog defaults to 'open' for FoxIt as opposed to 'do not open' for Adobe Reader.
Brad