Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2013-0641

Buffer overflow in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x before 9.5.4, 10.x before 10.1.6, and 11.x before 11.0.02 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted PDF document, as exploited in the wild in February 2013.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a HIGH severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.8, requiring local system access to exploit with relatively low complexity though user interaction is required and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 12 products from adobe, from adobe, from apple and 9 others, organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Documented in 2013, this vulnerability occurred amid the cloud computing expansion era, where traditional network perimeter security models were being reevaluated. Organizations were transitioning from isolated infrastructure to interconnected systems, creating new attack surfaces that vulnerabilities like this could exploit.

Published

2013-02-14T01:55:02.070

Last Modified

2025-10-22T01:15:47.517

Status

Deferred

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 7.8 (HIGH)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Access Vector: NETWORK
Access Complexity: MEDIUM
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: COMPLETE
Integrity Impact: COMPLETE
Availability Impact: COMPLETE

Exploitability Score

8.6

Impact Score

10.0

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-120
Type: Secondary
CWE-120

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	adobe	acrobat	< 9.5.4	Yes
Application	adobe	acrobat	< 10.1.6	Yes
Application	adobe	acrobat	< 11.0.02	Yes
Application	adobe	acrobat_reader	< 10.1.6	Yes
Application	adobe	acrobat_reader	< 11.0.02	Yes
Operating System	apple	mac_os_x	-	No
Operating System	microsoft	windows	-	No
Application	adobe	acrobat_reader	< 9.5.4	Yes
Operating System	linux	linux_kernel	-	No
Operating System	redhat	enterprise_linux_desktop	6.0	Yes
Operating System	redhat	enterprise_linux_eus	5.9	Yes
Operating System	redhat	enterprise_linux_eus	6.4	Yes
Operating System	redhat	enterprise_linux_server	6.0	Yes
Operating System	redhat	enterprise_linux_server_aus	5.9	Yes
Operating System	redhat	enterprise_linux_server_aus	6.4	Yes
Operating System	redhat	enterprise_linux_workstation	6.0	Yes
Operating System	opensuse	opensuse	11.4	Yes
Operating System	opensuse	opensuse	12.1	Yes
Operating System	suse	linux_enterprise_desktop	10	Yes
Operating System	suse	linux_enterprise_desktop	11	Yes

References

http://blog.fireeye.com/research/2013/02/in-turn-its-pdf-time.html Broken Link ([email protected])
http://blogs.adobe.com/psirt/2013/02/adobe-reader-and-acrobat-vulnerability-report.html Broken Link, Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://blogs.mcafee.com/mcafee-labs/digging-into-the-sandbox-escape-technique-of-the-recent-pdf-exploit Broken Link ([email protected])
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2013-02/msg00021.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2013-02/msg00023.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2013-02/msg00024.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013-0551.html Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-201308-03.xml Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.adobe.com/support/security/advisories/apsa13-02.html Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb13-07.html Broken Link ([email protected])
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/422807 Third Party Advisory, US Government Resource ([email protected])
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A16296 Broken Link ([email protected])
http://blog.fireeye.com/research/2013/02/in-turn-its-pdf-time.html Broken Link (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://blogs.adobe.com/psirt/2013/02/adobe-reader-and-acrobat-vulnerability-report.html Broken Link, Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://blogs.mcafee.com/mcafee-labs/digging-into-the-sandbox-escape-technique-of-the-recent-pdf-exploit Broken Link (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2013-02/msg00021.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2013-02/msg00023.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2013-02/msg00024.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013-0551.html Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-201308-03.xml Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.adobe.com/support/security/advisories/apsa13-02.html Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb13-07.html Broken Link (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/422807 Third Party Advisory, US Government Resource (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A16296 Broken Link (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2013-0641 (134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For adobe's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.