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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 22 Jun 2022.
AcrobatApplication · Adobe

CVE-2009-1862

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2009-07-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 10.0.22.87 or later.
See remediation →
97/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild No privileges

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
Unspecified vulnerability in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x through 9.1.2, and Adobe Flash Player 9.x through 9.0.159.0 and 10.x through 10.0.22.87, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via (1) a crafted Flash application in a .pdf file or (2) a crafted .swf file, related to authplay.dll, as exploited in the wild in July 2009.

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

Memory corruption vulnerability in Adobe's authplay.dll allows remote code execution or denial of service via specially crafted Flash content (.swf) embedded in PDF files or as standalone malicious .swf files. The vulnerability affects Adobe Reader/Acrobat 9.x through 9.1.2 and Flash Player 9.x and 10.x versions, and was actively exploited in the wild in July 2009.

MitigationApply Adobe security patches: update Adobe Reader/Acrobat to version 9.2 or later and Flash Player to version 10.0.42.34 (10.x) or 9.0.246.0 (9.x). Alternatively, disable Flash playback in PDF readers as a temporary workaround.

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
AcrobatApplication
Affected:>= 9.0, <= 9.1.2
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:>= 9.0, <= 9.1.2
Flash PlayerApplication
Affected:>= 9.0, <= 9.0.159.0>= 10.0, <= 10.0.22.87

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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. Check Adobe Reader version
    Open Adobe Reader, go to Help > About Adobe Reader, or run: for /f "tokens=*" %i in ('"%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe" -version 2^>nul') do @echo %i (or use registry: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat\Reader\9.0\InstallPath)
    Affected if Version is 9.0 through 9.1.2 inclusive
  2. Check Adobe Acrobat version
    Open Adobe Acrobat, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat, or check registry: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat\9.0\InstallPath
    Affected if Version is 9.0 through 9.1.2 inclusive
  3. Check Adobe Flash Player version
    Visit adobe.com, go to Flash Player version check page, or run: reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Macromedia\FlashPlayer" /v Version (for Windows plugin)
    Affected if Version is 9.0.0 through 9.0.159.0 OR 10.0.0 through 10.0.22.87 inclusive
  4. Locate authplay.dll vulnerable component
    Search for authplay.dll in the Adobe Reader/Acrobat installation directory (typically %ProgramFiles%\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Reader\ or %ProgramFiles%\Adobe\Acrobat 9.0\), or in the Flash Player plugin folder
    Affected if File exists in version 9.x installations (the DLL is only present in Reader/Acrobat 9.x and enables embedded Flash playback)
  5. Verify Flash is enabled in PDF reader
    In Adobe Reader/Acrobat 9.x, go to Edit > Preferences > Trust Manager > Settings > Internet Browser Integration and check 'Enable Adobe Flash' (or check registry: HKCU\Software\Adobe\Acrobat\9.0\TrustManager\cDefaultLaunchURLProc)
    Affected if Flash playback is enabled in Reader/Acrobat preferences, allowing embedded SWF content to execute

You are affected if you have Adobe Reader/Acrobat 9.0-9.1.2 or Flash Player 9.x/10.x within the listed ranges AND the authplay.dll component is present (for PDF readers) or Flash is enabled, as the vulnerability triggers through specially crafted SWF content.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 10.0.22.87
Interim mitigation

Apply Adobe security patches: update Adobe Reader/Acrobat to version 9.2 or later and Flash Player to version 10.0.42.34 (10.x) or 9.0.246.0 (9.x). Alternatively, disable Flash playback in PDF readers as a temporary workaround.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Flash Player 10.0.32.18+ or Adobe Acrobat/Reader 9.2+

  1. Check the currently installed Adobe product version (Acrobat, Acrobat Reader, or Flash Player)
  2. Navigate to Adobe's official download page for the specific product
  3. Download Adobe Flash Player 10.0.32.18 or later (or for Reader/Acrobat, download version 9.2 or later)
  4. Close all web browsers and applications using Flash Player before installation
  5. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the upgrade
  6. Restart the computer if prompted
  7. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds the fixed release
Caveat Users on legacy systems may experience compatibility issues with newer versions; ensure minimum system requirements are met

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

Fix this in Acrobat Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2009-1862 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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