Threats / Adobe / CVE-2008-2992
CVE-2008-2992
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
Adobe Acrobat and Reader vulnerability
Adobe Acrobat and Reader contain an input validation flaw in a JavaScript method enabling remote code execution. The vulnerability has been exploited in the wild and leveraged in ransomware campaigns.
Verdict
Today item, not a backlog item.
A buffer overflow in JavaScript processing allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary code by crafting malicious PDF documents. Active exploitation and ransomware deployment indicate severe real-world risk despite no CVSS score assignment.
CISA KEV Yes · 2022-03-034Ransomware use Flagged4EPSS 0.98482 (verify live)5CVSS 7.8 (CISA)3CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Impact: total3Exploit Weaponized · public exploit · Metasploit module11
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
13 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-03), flagged for known ransomware use.
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.98482 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 7.8 (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) · Affected: Adobe, Acrobat and Reader. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.CVSS — CISA-assigned via the ADP container (CVE.org), version 3.1; the CNA left no metrics, so CISA's own score is used ahead of NVD.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-119 Memory Buffer Bounds Error — weakness family: Memory safety.CWE assignment from the public NVD record (may be stale); the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
CISA SSVC (triage disposition)
Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Technical Impact: totalCISA's own stakeholder-specific triage inputs, published in the CVE record (CISA Coordinator role). NOTE: this is CISA's three decision points; the final Act/Attend/Track decision also requires a Mission & Well-being input not published here, so no overall decision is asserted.
Currency of the record
CISA added this to its KEV catalog 4867 days after the CVE record was published.KEV lag = CISA-KEV dateAdded − CVE.org datePublished; a floor on how long the known-exploited flaw sat in the public record before the federal catalog listed it. Severity/weakness here is CNA- or CISA-assigned (current at disclosure), independent of NVD's analysis backlog.
Public exploit available
Public exploit tooling is catalogued for this CVE (a functional/weaponized public exploit). Catalog entries: Metasploit module. We link the catalog page(s) only — no payload or code is hosted or restated here.Link, never host — the catalog page is the source; basicsecurity.net does not redistribute payloads.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I craft a malicious PDF with specially formatted JavaScript that bypasses input validation in the target application.
Business
End users receive weaponized documents via email or web downloads, creating initial compromise vectors.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I trigger the vulnerable JavaScript method when the victim opens the PDF in Acrobat or Reader.
Business
The application processes untrusted input without proper bounds checking, allowing memory corruption.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I exploit the buffer overflow to overwrite memory and redirect execution to my injected shellcode.
Business
Arbitrary code executes with the privileges of the application user on the victim's system.
4
Data at risk — exfiltration narrative 4
Attacker
I deploy ransomware or establish persistent access through the compromised endpoint.
Business
Organizations face data encryption, operational disruption, and extortion demands from coordinated ransomware campaigns.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05