iDefense Security Advisory 10.30.08 http://labs.idefense.com/intelligence/vulnerabilities/ OCT 30, 2008 I. BACKGROUND Adobe PageMaker is document layout application, and is commonly used for desktop publishing. For more information see the vendor's website found at the following address. http://www.adobe.com/products/pagemaker/ II. DESCRIPTION Remote exploitation of a stack buffer overflow vulnerability in Adobe Systems Inc.'s PageMaker could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the current user. A vulnerability exists within the handling of PMD files, the native file format for storing PageMaker documents. When parsing a malformed PMD file, data from the file is copied into a buffer without proper validation. This results in an exploitable stack based buffer overflow. III. ANALYSIS Exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user opening the file. Exploitation would require that an attacker hosts a maliciously crafted document on a website and entice users to visit the site. An attacker could also e-mail the malicious document and use social engineering techniques to trick the e-mail recipient into opening the document. IV. DETECTION iDefense has confirmed the existence of this vulnerability in Adobe PageMaker version 7.0.1 with the CVE-2007-5169 patch applied. Previous versions may also be affected. However, Adobe InDesign CS, the successor to PageMaker, is not affected. V. WORKAROUND iDefense is currently unaware of any workarounds for this issue. VI. VENDOR RESPONSE Adobe categorizes this as a critical issue and recommends affected users patch their installations, and avoid opening PageMaker files from untrusted or unknown sources. A patch is available from the vendor at http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/downloads/APSA08-10.zip VII. CVE INFORMATION The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) project has assigned the name CVE-2008-6432 to this issue. This is a candidate for inclusion in the CVE list (http://cve.mitre.org/), which standardizes names for security problems. VIII. DISCLOSURE TIMELINE 12/18/2007 Initial vendor notification 12/19/2007 Initial vendor response 06/09/2008 Vendor follow-up 10/29/2008 Vendor releases patch. IX. CREDIT The discoverer of this vulnerability wishes to remain anonymous. Get paid for vulnerability research http://labs.idefense.com/methodology/vulnerability/vcp.php Free tools, research and upcoming events http://labs.idefense.com/ X. LEGAL NOTICES Copyright © 2008 iDefense, Inc. Permission is granted for the redistribution of this alert electronically. It may not be edited in any way without the express written consent of iDefense. If you wish to reprint the whole or any part of this alert in any other medium other than electronically, please e-mail customerservice@xxxxxxxxxxxx for permission. Disclaimer: The information in the advisory is believed to be accurate at the time of publishing based on currently available information. Use of the information constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition. There are no warranties with regard to this information. Neither the author nor the publisher accepts any liability for any direct, indirect, or consequential loss or damage arising from use of, or reliance on, this information.
