CVE-2009-0927: Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat Stack-Based Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

86

Urgent

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

CISA KEV · Mar 25, 2022 ☠ APT12 Metasploit modules · 2 Exploit-DB · 4

How the score was calculated

Confirmed exploitation (CISA KEV)+35
Exploited by 1 threat actor(s) (MITRE ATT&CK)+10
Public exploit/PoC (metasploit, exploitdb)+20
EPSS 96.6% (30-day exploitation probability)+15
Technical severity (high)+6

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation

Confirmed

CISA KEV, listed Mar 25, 2022

EPSS FIRST

96.63%

ahead of 100% of scored CVEs · Oct 15, 2026

Affects

Adobe

Acrobat Reader

CVSS base

8.8

High · 4 source(s)

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation

Active

none · proof-of-concept · active

Automatable

No

can an attacker script the kill-chain steps

Technical impact

Total

partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

Documented patch — www.adobe.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)

CISA required action CISA

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

US federal deadline: Apr 15, 2022 — passed 1645 day(s) ago

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Adobe Acrobat Reader).
Treat as emergency remediation: the CVE is in CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).
The attack is network-based and needs no privileges: restrict exposure (ACLs, VPN, WAF) until patched.
Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
Exploitation requires user interaction: tighten email/web filtering and warn affected users.
EPSS ahead of 100% of scored CVEs: prioritize it in the patch queue.
Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (input validation), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

Vendor	Product	Versions	Status	Source
Adobe	Acrobat Reader	≥ 7.0 and < 7.1.1≥ 8.0 and < 8.1.3≥ 9.0 and < 9.1	Vulnerable	NIST National Vulnerability Database

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector

Network

Attack complexity

Low

Privileges required

None

User interaction

Required

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

Score	Version	Severity	Expl.	Impact	Scored by
8.8	CVSS 3.1	High	2.8	5.9	nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
8.8	CVSS 3.1	High	2.8	5.9	134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 via NIST National Vulnerability Database
8.8	CVSS 3.1	High	—	—	GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories
8.8	CVSS 3.1	High	—	—	CISA-ADP via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
9.3	CVSS 2.0	High	8.6	10.0	nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-20 · Improper Input Validation

Other CVEs with this weakness →

CISA KEV details CISA

CISA lists a CVE once it has evidence of exploitation against real targets.

Listed

Mar 25, 2022

Federal deadline

Apr 15, 2022

passed 1645 day(s) ago

Ransomware use

Unknown

CISA records ransomware use only for campaigns it has confirmed, so “Unknown” means unrecorded, not ruled out. The deadline binds US federal agencies; for everyone else it is a reference date.

Public exploits, PoCs and detection templates

Public code that demonstrates or tests the flaw raises the odds of mass exploitation — and Nuclei templates help find vulnerable assets in your environment.

Metasploit modules

Adobe Collab.getIcon() Buffer Overflow good Mar 24, 2009
Adobe Collab.getIcon() Buffer Overflow good Mar 24, 2009

Exploit-DB

Adobe Acrobat Reader 8.1.2 < 9.0 - 'getIcon()' Memory Corruption verified May 4, 2009
Adobe Acrobat/Reader < 7.1.1/8.1.3/9.1 - Collab getIcon Universal verified Sep 3, 2009
Adobe - 'Collab.getIcon()' Local Buffer Overflow (Metasploit) (1) verified Apr 30, 2010
Adobe - 'Collab.getIcon()' Local Buffer Overflow (Metasploit) (2) verified Sep 25, 2010

Warning: public PoCs are sometimes disguised malware. Use them only for authorized testing in an isolated environment. This portal does not host exploit code — it only points to the sources.

Threat actors exploiting this CVE MITRE ATT&CK

According to MITRE ATT&CK.

APT12 G0005

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 15, 2026 · 3 reading(s) · max 96.63%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).
Hunt retroactively in logs from before Mar 25, 2022 (KEV listing): exploitation may have started earlier.

web/proxy/WAF logsnetwork IDS/IPS

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

2026
Fix documented
Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
Affected products added · adobe/acrobat reader
Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
Source status changed · Published → Analyzed
Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
Record published
Oct 13, 2026
CVSS changed · 8.8
Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Source status changed · → Published
Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
SSVC assessment updated
Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Added to CISA KEV (detected)
Oct 13, 2026 · CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
Record created in this database
Oct 13, 2026 · CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
2022
Added to CISA KEV catalog
Mar 24, 2022 · CISA
2009
CVE published
Mar 19, 2009 · mitre

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

3× References added · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026
1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

19 on the record

www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb09-04.html
x_refsource_CONFIRM, Patch, Vendor Advisory, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog
US Government Resource, NIST National Vulnerability Database
lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2009-03/msg00005.html
vendor-advisory, x_refsource_SUSE, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
secunia.com/advisories/34706
third-party-advisory, x_refsource_SECUNIA, Third Party Advisory, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
www.securityfocus.com/bid/34169
vdb-entry, x_refsource_BID, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
www.exploit-db.com/exploits/9579
exploit, x_refsource_EXPLOIT-DB, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-09-014
x_refsource_MISC, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2009-0927
GitHub Security Advisories
lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2009-04/msg00010.html
vendor-advisory, x_refsource_SUSE, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/0770
vdb-entry, x_refsource_VUPEN, Third Party Advisory, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200904-17.xml
vendor-advisory, x_refsource_GENTOO, Third Party Advisory, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/502116/100/0/threaded
mailing-list, x_refsource_BUGTRAQ, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
www.securitytracker.com/id
vdb-entry, x_refsource_SECTRACK, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1019
vdb-entry, x_refsource_VUPEN, Third Party Advisory, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
secunia.com/advisories/34490
third-party-advisory, x_refsource_SECUNIA, Third Party Advisory, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
secunia.com/advisories/34790
third-party-advisory, x_refsource_SECUNIA, Third Party Advisory, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do
vendor-advisory, x_refsource_SUNALERT, Broken Link, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
github.com/advisories/GHSA-wr9v-3qgm-q33g
GitHub Security Advisories
exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/49312
vdb-entry, x_refsource_XF, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

Elsewhere on this site

Adobe
every CVE for this vendor

2022-03
what else CISA listed that month

Input validation
same class

CWE-20
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

Medium CVE-2026-82001 Acrobat Reader | Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400) Sep 8, 2026
Medium CVE-2026-81993 Acrobat Reader | Heap-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-122) Sep 8, 2026
Medium CVE-2026-81994 Acrobat Reader | Improperly Controlled Modification of Object Prototype Attributes ('Prototype Pollution') (CWE-1321) Sep 8, 2026
Medium CVE-2026-81997 Acrobat Reader | Incorrect Authorization (CWE-863) Sep 8, 2026
High CVE-2026-81996 Acrobat Reader | Incorrect Authorization (CWE-863) Sep 8, 2026
High CVE-2026-81988 Acrobat Reader | Use After Free (CWE-416) Sep 8, 2026

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2009-0927 is "Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat Stack-Based Buffer Overflow Vulnerability", rated High. It affects Acrobat Reader (Adobe); versions are in the scope table. It is in CISA KEV: there is evidence of real-world exploitation. CVSS 8.8 describes technical severity. EPSS 96.63% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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