Evidence used
- CISA confirms exploitation in the wild.
- A structured source references public exploit or proof-of-concept material.
- EPSS is 81.88% for the current model date.
BlackTreeCVE IntelligenceFull vulnerability report · 2009
CVE-2009-4324High confidence
Adobe Acrobat and Reader Use-After-Free Vulnerability
Adobe · Acrobat and Reader
7.8HighCVSS 3.1
Protect now
Fix not verifiedCISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2022-06-22 as the remediation due date.
R
Open reassessment dashboard →Operational reassessment
Published severity in operational context
Published severityHigh→Operational priority:Critical, raised one band.upgradedsince 8 Jun 2022
Compensating controls
- Restrict local access and enforce least privilege on affected hosts.
- Increase monitoring for the attack path and post-exploitation behaviour described in the report.
Verification
- Confirm that the asset runs Adobe Acrobat and Reader and falls inside the recorded affected range.
- Recheck the vendor advisory before scheduling a change because no verified fixed version is currently retained.
- Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
- Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
CISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2022-06-22 as the remediation due date.
Fix not verified01
What, why and how
Use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader allows remote attackers to execute code via a crafted PDF file.
What
Use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader allows remote attackers to execute code via a crafted PDF file.
Why
The program can continue using memory after it has been released, producing unsafe and attacker-influenceable behaviour.
How
An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation without authentication after a user interaction. If successful, the issue may execute code or commands in the affected security context.
What
Use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader allows remote attackers to execute code via a crafted PDF file.
Why
The program can continue using memory after it has been released, producing unsafe and attacker-influenceable behaviour.
How
An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation without authentication after a user interaction. If successful, the issue may execute code or commands in the affected security context.
02
Exploit reality and attack path
CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.
Observed exploitation Confirmed in the wild
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.CISA added this CVE to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2022-06-08.
Public PoC / exploit material Reference recorded
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.A structured CVE source labels at least one public reference as exploit material. BlackTree has not independently validated that it is safe, reliable or weaponised.
- Likely attack path
- local access → Use After Free → execute code or commands in the affected security context
- Attack surface
- Local
- Privileges required
- None: unauthenticated exploitation is possible
- User interaction
- Required interaction required
- Attack complexity
- Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
- Security boundary
- Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
- Weakness
?
CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness. - CWE-416 ↗
CWE-416: Use After Free. The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory belongs to the code that operates on the new pointer.
- CVSS vector
?
CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity. CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCommon Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.
AVLocalAttack vector: The attacker needs local access to the vulnerable system.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRNonePrivileges required: The attacker does not need an account or existing privileges.UIRequiredUser interaction: Another user must perform an action for exploitation to succeed.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.- Post-exploitation / living off the land
- After compromise, an attacker may use built-in shells, scripting engines, scheduled tasks and native network utilities for discovery, persistence or movement. This is a plausible LoTL path, not evidence that it has occurred for every attack.
03
Patch and workaround
Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.
- Status
?
Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change. - Fix not verified
- Affected
- n/a
- Fixed
- No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
- Action
- No verified patch reference is present in the current structured sources. Check the vendor advisory before making a change.
- Workaround
- No verified workaround is recorded. Limit untrusted access and use least privilege until authoritative guidance is available.
04
Evidence and provenance
Published 15 Dec 2009 · Last source change 22 Oct 2025, 00:05 UTC · CWE-416 · Use After Free
CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceNIST NVD
EPSS source FIRST · tracked since 2026-09-13
?
The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2009-4292
Product sourceCISA KEV
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCISA ADP
NVD statusNVD enriched
Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.
Material change intelligence
View recent updates ↗What changed after publication
- ENISA known-exploited stateENISA EUVD now records this CVE in its known-exploited dataset.ENISA EUVD ↗
- Before
- not listed in ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset
- After
- listed in ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset (EUVD-2009-4292)
- ENISA EUVD mappingEUVD-2009-4292 was added to the official ENISA EUVD mapping for this CVE.ENISA EUVD ↗
- Before
- not recorded
- After
- {"euvdId":"EUVD-2009-4292"}
- Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.CISA KEV ↗
- Before
- n/a: n/a · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
- After
- n/a · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
- Vendor guidanceAuthoritative vendor guidance changed: added vendor advisory: adobe.com/apsa09-07.html; added vendor advisory: blogs.adobe.com/new_adobe_reader_and_acrobat_v.html; removed vendor advisory: lists.opensuse.org/msg00009.html; removed vendor advisory: redhat.com/RHSA-2010-0060.html; 4 further additions.blogs.adobe.com ↗
- Before
- vendor advisory: lists.opensuse.org/msg00009.html · vendor advisory: redhat.com/RHSA-2010-0060.html
- After
- vendor advisory: adobe.com/apsa09-07.html · vendor advisory: blogs.adobe.com/new_adobe_reader_and_acrobat_v.html · vendor advisory: secunia.com/37690 · 3 more references
- Public exploit evidencePublic exploit evidence changed from No public exploit to Public exploit reference.contagiodump.blogspot.com ↗
- Before
- No public exploit
- After
- Public exploit reference
- CVSS scoreCVSS scoring authority changed from CISA ADP to NIST NVD; the displayed base score remained 7.8.NIST NVD ↗
- Before
- 7.8 (CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP · CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
- After
- 7.8 (CVSS 3.1 · NIST NVD · CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
- Catalogue recordCVE added to the BlackTree catalogue.CNA ↗
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
- CVE
- Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
- CVSS
- Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
- EPSS
- Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
- CWE
- Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
- CNA
- CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
- CISA ADP
- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
- NVD
- National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
- CERT / CSIRT
- A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
- PoC
- Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
- CSAF
- Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
- LoTL
- Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.