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AcrobatApplication · Adobe

CVE-2012-4147

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-08-15
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

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
Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x before 9.5.2 and 10.x before 10.1.4 on Windows and Mac OS X allow attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2012-2051, CVE-2012-4148, CVE-2012-4149, CVE-2012-4150, CVE-2012-4151, CVE-2012-4152, CVE-2012-4153, CVE-2012-4154, CVE-2012-4155, CVE-2012-4156, CVE-2012-4157, CVE-2012-4158, CVE-2012-4159, and CVE-2012-4160.

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 Reader and Acrobat 9.x before 9.5.2 and 10.x before 10.1.4 on Windows and Mac OS X allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via unspecified vectors.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Reader and Acrobat to version 9.5.2 or later (9.x) and 10.1.4 or later (10.x) to remediate this memory corruption vulnerability that enables arbitrary code execution.

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= 9.0= 9.1= 9.1.1= 9.1.2= 9.1.3= 9.2= 9.3= 9.3.1= 9.3.2= 9.3.3= 9.3.4
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:= 9.0= 9.1= 9.1.1= 9.1.2= 9.1.3= 9.2= 9.3= 9.3.1= 9.3.2= 9.3.3= 9.3.4= 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
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/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 installed Adobe product
    On Windows, open Add or Remove Programs and look for 'Adobe Reader' or 'Adobe Acrobat'. On Mac OS X, check /Applications for 'Adobe Reader.app' or 'Adobe Acrobat.app'.
    Affected if Neither Adobe Reader nor Adobe Acrobat is installed on Windows or Mac OS X.
  2. Retrieve exact product version
    On Windows, right-click the executable (AcroRd32.exe for Reader, AcroAcrobat.exe for Acrobat, typically in C:\Program Files\Adobe\) and select Properties > Details to view the File Version. On Mac OS X, right-click the app in /Applications, select Show Package Contents, navigate to Contents/Info.plist and check CFBundleShortVersionString.
    Affected if The retrieved version cannot be determined or the product is not found.
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    For Adobe Acrobat 9.x, you are affected if version equals 9, 9.0, 9.1, 9.1.1, 9.1.2, 9.1.3, 9.2, 9.3, 9.3.1, 9.3.2, 9.3.3, or 9.3.4. For Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.x, affected if version equals 9.0 through 9.3.4 or 9.4. For version 10.x, affected if version is earlier than 10.1.4 (such as 10.0, 10.1, 10.1.1, 10.1.2, or 10.1.3).
    Affected if Your installed version matches any of the listed affected versions for your product (Acrobat or Reader) on Windows or Mac OS X.
  4. Confirm operating system is Windows or Mac OS X
    Verify that the affected Adobe product is running on Windows or Mac OS X. This vulnerability specifically affects only these two platforms, not Linux.
    Affected if The Adobe product is installed on Linux, as the vulnerability does not apply to that platform.

You are affected if Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat version 9.x (9 through 9.3.4, or 9.4 for Reader) or version 10.x (earlier than 10.1.4) is installed on Windows or Mac OS X.

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
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch www.adobe.com →
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Reader and Acrobat to version 9.5.2 or later (9.x) and 10.1.4 or later (10.x) to remediate this memory corruption vulnerability that enables arbitrary code execution.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat/Reader 9.5.2 or later (or 10.1.4+ for 10.x)

  1. 1. Check current Adobe Acrobat/Reader version by opening the application and navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader or About Adobe Acrobat
  2. 2. Navigate to the official Adobe security bulletin at http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb12-16.html
  3. 3. Download the appropriate security update: Adobe Reader 9.5.2 or later, Adobe Acrobat 9.5.2 or later, or respective 10.x updates to 10.1.4 or later
  4. 4. Close all Adobe applications before installing the update
  5. 5. Run the downloaded installer and follow the prompts to apply the security update
  6. 6. Verify the installation by checking Help > About to confirm the version matches 9.5.2+ (for 9.x) or 10.1.4+ (for 10.x)
Caveat Adobe updates from 2012 may require older OS versions to be upgraded; ensure your operating system is compatible with the target Acrobat version

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

Fix this in Acrobat Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
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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-2012-4147 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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