Adobe Reader and Acrobat Security Bug - SSO-AL2009-007

23 February 2009

Software and platforms affected

The following software is affected

Adobe Reader 9 and previous versions
Adobe Acrobat Standard, Pro, and Pro Extended 9 and previous versions

for the following operating system platforms:

Windows (all versions)
Mac OS X (all versions)
Unix (all versions)

What is the problem?

There is a bug in all versions of  Adobe Reader and Acrobat, which could result in your computer being attacked by criminals.  This bug is being actively exploited by criminals at present.

What we recommend you do

Currently there is no patch from Adobe. A patch is planned to be released by March 11th 2009. In the mean time the following will help to keep you safe:

1) Disable Javascript in Adobe Reader and Acrobat. This can be done by clicking Edit -> Preferences -> JavaScript and un-checking "Enable Acrobat JavaScript".

2) Do not open PDF attachments in emails from untrusted sources.

3) As always, run an up-to-date anti-virus product.

Where you can find more information

Adobe have released a Security Advisory about the problem. They will probably also post details about patches here once they are available.

http://www.adobe.com/support/security/advisories/apsa09-01.html

Disclaimer

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