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HighCISA KEVExploited in the wildPublic exploit

Adobe Reader and Acrobat Doc.media.newPlayer Use-After-Free RCE

IdentifiersCVE-2009-4324CWE-416· Use After Free

CVE-2009-4324 is a use-after-free vulnerability in the Doc.media.newPlayer method in Multimedia.api in Adobe Reader and Acrobat. Affected versions are Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x before 9.3 and 8.x before 8.2 on Windows and Mac OS X. The flaw can be triggered by a crafted PDF file using ZLib-compressed streams, leading to an exploitable memory access violation after freed memory is reused. The issue was reported as being exploited in the wild in December 2009, and public exploit code was available.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the user opening the malicious PDF. In practice this can result in full compromise of the affected workstation, including malware installation, data theft, and use of the host as an initial access point. The vulnerability was actively exploited in the wild and was incorporated into exploit packs.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

Until patching is complete, avoid opening untrusted or unsolicited PDF files. Reduce attack surface by disabling JavaScript and multimedia features where operationally feasible, and use email/web content filtering to block suspicious PDF attachments and downloads. Restrict execution of PDF readers in high-risk environments through application control or sandboxing.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade Adobe Reader and Acrobat to fixed versions: 9.3 or later on the 9.x branch, or 8.2 or later on the 8.x branch. Apply vendor security updates across all affected Windows and Mac OS X systems and retire unsupported legacy Reader/Acrobat versions.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No valid public exploits. Mallory filtered out 1 candidate as fakes, detection scripts, or README-only repos.

VALID 0 / 1 TOTALView more in app

All candidate exploits were filtered out by Mallory's validation.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType
AdobeAcrobatapplication
AdobeAcrobat Readerapplication
OpensuseOpensuseoperating_system
SuseLinux Enterpriseoperating_system
SuseLinux Enterprise Debuginfoapplication

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

9 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.

9 SOURCESView more in app
+4 more in the timeline
What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

This page is what’s public. Mallory adds the parts that aren’t: which of your assets are affected, which adversaries are exploiting it right now, which detections to deploy, and what to do tonight.
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Exposure mapping

Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.

Threat actor evidence3

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures1

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.

EXTERNAL REFERENCES
MITRE CVE
cve.org · CVE-2009-4324
NVD
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2009-4324
MITRE CWE · CWE-416
Use After Free
Vendor Advisory
adobe.com/support/security/advisories/apsa09-07.html
Third Party Advisory
contagiodump.blogspot.com/2009/12/virustotal-httpwww.html
Third Party Advisory
lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2010-01/msg00009.html
Third Party Advisory
kb.cert.org/vuls/id/508357
Third Party Advisory
us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA10-013A.html
Third Party Advisory
exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/54747
Issue Tracking
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=547799
US Government Resource
cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2009-4324