CVE-2010-2883
Adobe Acrobat and Reader Stack-Based Buffer Overflow Vulnerability
Executive Summary
CVE-2010-2883 is a critical severity vulnerability affecting binary-analysis. It is classified as an undisclosed flaw. This vulnerability is actively being exploited in the wild.
Precogs AI Insight
"The defect is inherently caused by within Adobe Acrobat and Reader, allowing insufficient sanitization protocols during data parsing. Exploitation typically involves an attacker attempting to execute arbitrary code on the target system, potentially leading to full system compromise. The Precogs binary analysis module maps structural execution flows to neutralize the threat at the source level."
What is this vulnerability?
CVE-2010-2883 is categorized as a critical Buffer Overflow flaw. Based on our vulnerability intelligence, this issue occurs when the application fails to securely handle untrusted data boundaries.
Adobe Acrobat and Reader contain a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability that allows remote attackers to execute code or cause denial-of-service (DoS)..
This architectural defect enables adversaries to bypass intended security controls, directly manipulating the application's execution state or data layer. Immediate strategic intervention is required.
Risk Assessment
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| CVSS Base Score | 9.8 (CRITICAL) |
| Vector String | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| Published | June 8, 2022 |
| Last Modified | June 8, 2022 |
| Related CWEs | N/A |
Impact on Systems
✅ Remote Code Execution: Attackers can overwrite the instruction pointer (EIP/RIP) to redirect execution to malicious shellcode.
✅ Memory Corruption: Overwriting adjacent memory regions can corrupt critical application state, leading to unpredictable privilege escalation.
✅ Denial of Service: Triggering segmentation faults and kernel panics results in immediate disruption of critical systems.
How to fix this issue?
Implement the following strategic mitigations immediately to eliminate the attack surface.
1. Memory-Safe Languages Where possible, migrate critical parsing logic to memory-safe languages like Rust or Go.
2. Safe Standard Libraries Replace unbounded C functions (strcpy, sprintf) with boundary-checking equivalents (strncpy, snprintf).
3. Compiler Defenses Ensure software is compiled with modern defensive flags: ASLR, DEP/NX, Stack Canaries (SSP), and Position Independent Executables (PIE).
Vulnerability Signature
// Vulnerable C Function
void parse_network_packet(char *untrusted_data) \{
char local_buffer[128];
// VULNERABLE: strcpy does not verify the length of the source data
strcpy(local_buffer, untrusted_data);
printf("Packet Processed.");
\}
// EXPLOIT PAYLOAD: 128 bytes of padding + [Overwrite EIP Address]
References and Sources
Vulnerability Code Signature
Attack Data Flow
| Stage | Detail |
|---|---|
| Source | Network packet or file input |
| Vector | Data exceeds the allocated buffer bounds during a copy operation |
| Sink | strcpy(), memcpy(), or pointer arithmetic |
| Impact | Memory corruption, Remote Code Execution (RCE) |
Vulnerable Code Pattern
// ❌ VULNERABLE: Memory Corruption
void process_data(char *input) {
char buffer[128];
// Taint sink: copies without bounds checking
strcpy(buffer, input);
}
Secure Code Pattern
// ✅ SECURE: Bounded Memory Operations
void process_data(char *input) {
char buffer[128];
// Sanitized boundary check
strncpy(buffer, input, sizeof(buffer) - 1);
buffer[sizeof(buffer) - 1] = '\0';
}
How Precogs Detects This
Precogs Binary SAST engine explicitly uncovers memory boundary violations and unsafe memory management functions in compiled binaries.\n