CVE-2008-2992

Exp

Stack-based buffer overflow in Adobe Acrobat and Reader 8.1.2 and earlier allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a PDF file that calls the util.printf JavaScript function with a crafted format string argument, a related issue to CVE-2008-1104.

Published: 2008-11-04 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2008-2992 is rated Critical Active Threat (95.9/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 98.46%, 100th percentile). CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2022-03-03) affecting Adobe / Acrobat and Reader. a weakness (CWE-787) Unauthenticated remote administrative access may be possible. EPSS rose +4.72% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. The CISA remediation deadline has passed—treat as an emergency patch priority.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

CISA KEV Record for CVE-2008-2992

Name: Adobe Reader and Acrobat Input Validation Vulnerability · CISA KEV detail

Exploit added: 2022-03-03

Action due: 2022-03-24

Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2008-2992

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
16624 exploit_db edb 2010-09-25 Exploit-DB ↗
16504 exploit_db edb 2010-05-03 Exploit-DB ↗
7006 exploit_db edb 2008-11-05 Exploit-DB ↗
6994 exploit_db edb 2008-11-05 Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2008-2992

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 93.74% 98.46% +4.72%
2 2026-01-17 93.76% 93.74% -0.02%
3 2025-12-25 — 93.76% —

Full EPSS history (23 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2008-2992

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 5.9 [email protected]
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 5.9 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
9.3 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 8.6 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2008-2992

OS Trackers for CVE-2008-2992

vendor priority summary link
gentoo normal CVE-2008-2992: 1 GLSA(s) (200901-09), 1 atom(s) (app-text/acroread); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2008-2992
redhat critical — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2008-2992
ubuntu medium CVE-2008-2992 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (acroread), 6 status rows across 6 suites (dapper, gutsy, hardy, intrepid, jaunty, upstream): not-affected 3, DNE 1, ignored 1, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2008-2992

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2008-2992

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
adobe acrobat <= 8.1.2 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:acrobat:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe acrobat_reader <= 8.1.2 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:acrobat_reader:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle solaris 10 cpe:2.3:o:oracle:solaris:10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2008-2992

URL Tags
http://download.oracle.com/sunalerts/1019937.1.html Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2008-11/msg00002.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://osvdb.org/49520 Broken Link
http://secunia.com/advisories/29773 Broken Link Vendor Advisory
http://secunia.com/advisories/32700 Broken Link Vendor Advisory
http://secunia.com/advisories/32872 Broken Link Vendor Advisory
http://secunia.com/advisories/35163 Broken Link Vendor Advisory
http://secunia.com/secunia_research/2008-14/ Broken Link Vendor Advisory
http://securityreason.com/securityalert/4549 Broken Link Exploit
http://support.nortel.com/go/main.jsp?cscat=BLTNDETAIL&id=800801 Broken Link
http://support.nortel.com/go/main.jsp?cscat=BLTNDETAIL&id=909609 Broken Link
http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb08-19.html Broken Link Patch Vendor Advisory
http://www.coresecurity.com/content/adobe-reader-buffer-overflow Third Party Advisory
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/593409 Third Party Advisory US Government Resource
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2008-0974.html Broken Link Patch
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/498027/100/0/threaded Broken Link Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/498032/100/0/threaded Broken Link Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/498055/100/0/threaded Broken Link Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/30035 Broken Link Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/32091 Broken Link Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1021140 Broken Link Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA08-309A.html Broken Link Third Party Advisory US Government Resource
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2008/3001 Broken Link Vendor Advisory
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/0098 Broken Link Vendor Advisory
http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-08-072/ Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/6994 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/7006 Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2008-2992 US Government Resource
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