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AcrobatApplication · Adobe

CVE-2012-4157

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-2012-4147, 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-2012-4158, 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 remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via unspecified vectors.

MitigationUpgrade Adobe Reader and Acrobat to version 9.5.2 or later (for 9.x) or 10.1.4 or later (for 10.x) to remediate this vulnerability.

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. Verify Adobe Reader installation on Windows
    Open Control Panel, go to Programs and Features (or Add or Remove Programs), and look for 'Adobe Reader' in the list of installed software. Note the version number displayed.
    Affected if Adobe Reader is installed and the version listed is 9.0 through 9.4.x (any version below 9.5.2)
  2. Verify Adobe Acrobat installation on Windows
    Open Control Panel, go to Programs and Features, and look for 'Adobe Acrobat' in the list of installed software. Note the version number displayed.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat is installed and the version listed is 9.0 through 9.3.4 (any version below 9.5.2)
  3. Find exact version via executable properties on Windows
    Navigate to the Adobe installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader X.X\Reader or C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat X.X\Acrobat), right-click the executable file (AcroRd32.exe or AcroTray.exe for Reader, AcroBat.exe or Acrobat.exe for Acrobat), select Properties, and check the Details tab for the Product Version.
    Affected if The Product Version shown is below 9.5.2 for 9.x versions, or the installed version is any 10.x version below 10.1.4
  4. Check version on Mac OS X
    Open Finder, navigate to Applications folder, locate Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat, right-click the application, select Get Info, and check the Version number under the General information section.
    Affected if The version shown is 9.x below 9.5.2 or 10.x below 10.1.4

Your environment is affected if Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat is installed with any version from 9.0 through 9.3.4 (for Acrobat) or 9.0 through 9.4 (for Reader), or any 10.x version below 10.1.4, 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

Upgrade Adobe Reader and Acrobat to version 9.5.2 or later (for 9.x) or 10.1.4 or later (for 10.x) to remediate this vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

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

  1. 1. Verify the current Adobe Reader or Acrobat version by opening the application, selecting 'Help' > 'About Adobe Reader/Acrobat'
  2. 2. Navigate to the Adobe Security Bulletin APSB12-16 at http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb12-16.html
  3. 3. Download the appropriate update for your version: Adobe Reader 9.5.2 or later, or Adobe Acrobat 9.5.2 or later (or 10.1.4 or later if using version 10.x)
  4. 4. Close all Adobe Reader/Acrobat instances
  5. 5. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the installation
  6. 6. Verify the update was successful by checking the version again

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

Fix this in Acrobat Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-2012-4157 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