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CVE-2009-4324· NVD / CVE Program· CNA adobe

Use-after-free vulnerability in the Doc.media.newPlayer method in Multimedia.api in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x before 9.3, and 8.x before

Use-after-free vulnerability in the Doc.media.newPlayer method in Multimedia.api in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x before 9.3, and 8.x before 8.2 on Windows and Mac OS X, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted PDF file using ZLib compressed streams, as exploited in the wild in December 2009.

HighCVSS 7.8 · v3.1KEVWeaponized Fix available
Published
Dec 14, 2009
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
81.9% · 100th percentile
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Action score

86

Now

Patch today or shut off access.

CVSS
31 / 40 · 7.8 / 10
CISA KEV
30 / 30 · Listed
EPSS
25 / 30 · 81.9%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
active
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

Actively exploited in the wild

CISA added this to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on Jun 8, 2022. That signals real attacks, not theory.

Remediation deadline for government agencies: Jun 22, 2022.

Affected systems

VendorProduct
adobeacrobat
adobeacrobat reader
applemac os x
microsoftwindows
suselinux enterprise debuginfo
opensuseopensuse
suselinux enterprise

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • adobe acrobat9.0 and later · before 9.3
  • adobe acrobat8.0 and later · before 8.2
  • adobe acrobat reader8.0 and later · before 8.2
  • adobe acrobat reader9.0 and later · before 9.3
  • opensuse opensuse11.1
  • opensuse opensuse11.2
  • suse linux enterprise10.0
  • suse linux enterprise debuginfo11

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Red Hat:rhel_extras:3acroread-uninstallbefore 0:9.3-30:9.3-3
Red Hat:rhel_extras:4acroreadbefore 0:9.3-1.el40:9.3-1.el4
Red Hat:rhel_extras:4acroread-pluginbefore 0:9.3-1.el40:9.3-1.el4
Red Hat:rhel_extras:5::clientacroreadbefore 0:9.3-1.el50:9.3-1.el5
Red Hat:rhel_extras:5::clientacroread-pluginbefore 0:9.3-1.el50:9.3-1.el5

Same product

adobe: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2011-2462Unspecified vulnerability in the U3D component in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 10.1.1 and earlier on Windows and Mac OS X, and Adobe Reader 9.x KEV
    96Now
  • CVE-2013-3346Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x before 9.5.5, 10.x before 10.1.7, and 11.x before 11.0.03 allow attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a KEV
    93Now
  • CVE-2021-21017Acrobat Reader DC Heap-based Buffer Overflow Vulnerability Could Lead To Arbitrary Code ExecutionKEV
    91Now
  • CVE-2009-3459Heap-based buffer overflow in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 7.x before 7.1.4, 8.x before 8.1.7, and 9.x before 9.2 allows remote attackers to exeKEV
    91Now
  • CVE-2008-2992Stack-based buffer overflow in Adobe Acrobat and Reader 8.1.2 and earlier allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a PDF file tKEV
    91Now
  • CVE-2009-3953The U3D implementation in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x before 9.3, 8.x before 8.2 on Windows and Mac OS X, and 7.x before 7.1.4 allows remotKEV
    90Now

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
Red Hat:acroread0:9.3-1.el5 · Red Hat:rhel_extras:5::clientPackage registry (OSV)
Red Hat:acroread-plugin0:9.3-1.el5 · Red Hat:rhel_extras:5::clientPackage registry (OSV)
Red Hat:acroread-uninstall0:9.3-3 · Red Hat:rhel_extras:3Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

Weaponized

A ready exploit tool or active in-the-wild use is known for this vulnerability. This should be your top priority.

Evidence

  • Metasploit module ×2
  • Exploit-DB entry ×3

Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.

Public exploit evidence
SourceKindDate
Exploit-DB entrylocal2010-04-30
Exploit-DB entrylocal2010-09-25
Exploit-DB entrylocal2009-12-23
Metasploit moduleexploit/windows/browser/adobe_media_newplayerAdobe Doc.media.newPlayer Use After Free Vulnerabilityexploit2009-12-14
Metasploit moduleexploit/windows/fileformat/adobe_media_newplayerAdobe Doc.media.newPlayer Use After Free Vulnerabilityexploit2009-12-14

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

  1. Metasploit-1 d
  2. Published
  3. First PoC+8 d
  4. CISA KEV+4558 d
  5. TodaySep 29, 2026+6133 d
EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

The product’s vendor appears in a public program. Matched by name; verify the scope text in the program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • A user must open a link or visit a page.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-416 · Use After Free

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-primary

Root cause

After a memory region is freed, another reference pointing to it is still used. By then, the same region may have been allocated for different data.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-416 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

c
free(dev->buf);/* ... another thread is still running ... */process(dev->buf);

Fixed

c
lock(&dev->lock);free(dev->buf);dev->buf = NULL;unlock(&dev->lock);

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.

We use this product, ask for help

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records