dbcve.org
Opera BrowserApplication · Opera

CVE-2009-1599

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2009-05-11
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Opera executes DOM calls in response to a javascript: URI in the target attribute of a submit element within a form contained in an inline PDF file, which might allow remote attackers to bypass intended Adobe Acrobat JavaScript restrictions on accessing the document object, as demonstrated by a web site that permits PDF uploads by untrusted users, and therefore has a shared document.domain between the web site and this javascript: URI. NOTE: the researcher reports that Adobe's position is "a PDF file is active content."

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Opera browser executes javascript: URIs in the target attribute of submit elements within inline PDF files, bypassing Adobe Acrobat's JavaScript sandbox restrictions. This allows attackers to access the document object and perform cross-context scripting when untrusted PDFs are uploaded to web applications sharing document.domain with the attacker's content.

MitigationDisable JavaScript execution in PDF viewers (Adobe Reader) and restrict or validate PDF uploads from untrusted users to prevent injection of maliciously crafted PDF forms.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Opera BrowserApplication
Affected:all versions

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if Opera Browser is installed
    Check for Opera installation: look for Opera executable in typical installation directories (C:\Program Files\Opera on Windows, /Applications/Opera on macOS, or /usr/bin/opera on Linux). Run 'opera --version' or check browser listings in system programs.
    Affected if Opera Browser is present on the system and used to view PDFs inline in web applications.
  2. Determine if web applications accept PDF uploads
    Audit web applications for file upload functionality that accepts PDF files. Search codebase for extensions accepting .pdf, upload handlers processing PDF content, or forms with enctype multipart/form-data allowing PDF submissions.
    Affected if Web applications accept PDF file uploads from untrusted users.
  3. Check if document.domain is used in PDF-handling applications
    Search web application source code for document.domain assignments or relaxations. Review JavaScript files for 'document.domain' statements in applications that also process uploaded PDF files.
    Affected if The web application sets or modifies document.domain and handles PDF uploads from users.
  4. Verify PDF viewer integration with Opera
    Check Opera settings or about:config for PDF handling preferences. On Windows, verify whether Opera is configured to open PDFs inline using Adobe Reader plugin or built-in PDF viewer.
    Affected if Opera is configured to display PDFs inline (embedded) rather than downloading them for external viewing.

A user is affected if Opera Browser is installed and used to view inline PDFs in web applications that accept untrusted PDF uploads and use document.domain for cross-origin communication.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Disable JavaScript execution in PDF viewers (Adobe Reader) and restrict or validate PDF uploads from untrusted users to prevent injection of maliciously crafted PDF forms.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Any modern Opera version (Opera 80+) - the vulnerability existed in the legacy Opera Presto engine versions prior to 2013

  1. Upgrade to a modern version of Opera browser (Opera 80 or later) which uses the Chromium engine and no longer has the legacy PDF/Acrobat integration that was vulnerable to this issue
  2. Verify the upgrade by checking Help > About Opera shows a current version number
Caveat Modern Opera has a different user interface and feature set compared to the 2009-era Opera versions; some legacy extensions/plugins may not be compatible

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Opera Browser Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,376.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-1599 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2009-1599 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data