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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-2010-2883

HIGH · 7.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2010-09-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.2.5 / 9.4 or later.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS

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
Stack-based buffer overflow in CoolType.dll in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x before 9.4, and 8.x before 8.2.5 on Windows and Mac OS X, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (application crash) via a PDF document with a long field in a Smart INdependent Glyphlets (SING) table in a TTF font, as exploited in the wild in September 2010. NOTE: some of these details are obtained from third party information.

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

Stack-based buffer overflow in CoolType.dll allows remote code execution when Adobe Reader or Acrobat opens a malicious PDF containing a specially crafted SING (Smart INdependent Glyphlets) table in a TrueType font with an oversized field value. The vulnerability was actively exploited in the wild in September 2010.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Reader and Acrobat to version 9.4 or later (for 9.x) or 8.2.5 or later (for 8.x). Alternatively, disable JavaScript in Adobe Reader settings or deploy endpoint protection capable of detecting malicious PDF files.

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:>= 8.0, < 8.2.5>= 9.0, < 9.4
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:>= 8.0, < 8.2.5>= 9.0, < 9.4

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
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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. Verify Adobe Reader or Acrobat is installed
    On Windows, check Program Files for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader folders, or use Add/Remove Programs. On Mac, check /Applications for Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat.
    Affected if Either Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat is present on the system
  2. Locate the CoolType.dll file
    Search for CoolType.dll in the Adobe installation directory. Typical paths: Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat [version]\CoolType.dll or Program Files\Adobe\Reader [version]\Reader\CoolType.dll
    Affected if CoolType.dll exists in the Adobe installation folder
  3. Determine the installed Adobe version
    Open Adobe Reader or Acrobat, then go to Help > About Adobe Reader/Acrobat to display the version number. Alternatively, right-click the executable and select Properties > Details for the version info.
    Affected if The version displayed is 8.0 through 8.2.4 OR 9.0 through 9.3.x (meaning version is >= 8.0 and < 8.2.5, or >= 9.0 and < 9.4)
  4. Confirm the vulnerability is exploitable
    The flaw requires opening a PDF file containing a maliciously crafted SING (Smart INdependent Glyphlets) table within a TrueType font. Check if CoolType.dll is loaded by the application - this occurs when PDFs are processed.
    Affected if The vulnerable CoolType.dll version is present AND the user opens PDF files, particularly from untrusted sources

The system is affected if Adobe Reader 8.0-8.2.4 or 9.0-9.3.x (or Acrobat in the same ranges) is installed, because the vulnerable CoolType.dll version will be present and can be triggered when processing PDF files with malformed SING tables.

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 8.2.5 / 9.4 or later
Fixed in 8.2.59.4
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Reader and Acrobat to version 9.4 or later (for 9.x) or 8.2.5 or later (for 8.x). Alternatively, disable JavaScript in Adobe Reader settings or deploy endpoint protection capable of detecting malicious PDF files.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat/Reader 8.2.5 or later (8.x) | Adobe Acrobat/Reader 9.4 or later (9.x)

  1. 1. Identify the installed Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader version by opening the application and navigating to Help > About (or equivalent menu item)
  2. 2. For version 8.x users: Upgrade to Adobe Acrobat/Reader 8.2.5 or later
  3. 3. For version 9.x users: Upgrade to Adobe Acrobat/Reader 9.4 or later
  4. 4. Download the latest version from the official Adobe website (get.adobe.com/reader for Reader, get.adobe.com/acrobat for Acrobat)
  5. 5. Close all running instances of Adobe Acrobat/Reader before installing
  6. 6. Install the updated version and restart the application

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
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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-2010-2883 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