It seems like in the past couple of weeks a lot of security risks are popping up. So to add to the list, I read about a critical security risk with Adobe Reader versions 8.1.2 and lower (this exploit is not applicable to version 9). The vunerability comes from the use of JavaScript inside the PDF file:
Engineers from CoreLabs determined that Adobe Reader could be exploited to gain access to vulnerable systems via the use of a specially crafted PDF file with malicious JavaScript content.
My first thought is why does a PDF document even need JavaScript? I seriously cannot think of a single reason a PDF document would need this ability. Perhaps I have opened PDF’s in the past which had JavaScript in them and I didn’t know it, but overall I just use a PDF reader to open “static” documents.
To avoid issues such as this, just use a ‘simple’ PDF viewer, such as Foxit Reader which is not effected by this exploit. If you do need the additional functionality of Adobe however, just make sure you keep it updated.
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