CVE-2009-1493

Exp

The customDictionaryOpen spell method in the JavaScript API in Adobe Reader 9.1, 8.1.4, 7.1.1, and earlier on Linux and UNIX allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption) or execute arbitrary code via a PDF file that triggers a call to this method with a long string in the second argument.

Published: 2009-04-30 Last update: 2026-04-23 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2009-1493 is rated High Exploit Risk (76.1/100): CVSS Medium severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 76.20%, 99th percentile). 3 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

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

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2009-1493

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
8570 exploit_db edb 2009-04-29 Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2009-1493

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 2026-01-05 76.93% 76.20% -0.73%
2 2025-11-16 76.13% 76.93% +0.80%
3 2025-03-30 — 76.13% —

Full EPSS history (13 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2009-1493

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.8 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P 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:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 8.6 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2009-1493

OS Trackers for CVE-2009-1493

vendor priority summary link
gentoo normal CVE-2009-1493: 1 GLSA(s) (200907-06), 1 atom(s) (app-text/acroread); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2009-1493
redhat critical — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2009-1493
ubuntu medium CVE-2009-1493 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (acroread), 6 status rows across 6 suites (dapper, hardy, intrepid, jaunty, karmic, upstream): released 4, ignored 1, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2009-1493

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2009-1493

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
adobe reader 8.1.4 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:reader:8.1.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe reader 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:reader:9.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2009-1493

URL Tags
http://blogs.adobe.com/psirt/2009/04/update_on_adobe_reader_issue.html Vendor Advisory
http://blogs.adobe.com/psirt/2009/05/adobe_reader_issue_update.html Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2009-05/msg00001.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2009-06/msg00003.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://osvdb.org/54129 Broken Link
http://packetstorm.linuxsecurity.com/0904-exploits/spell.txt Exploit
http://secunia.com/advisories/34924 Broken Link
http://secunia.com/advisories/35055 Broken Link
http://secunia.com/advisories/35096 Broken Link
http://secunia.com/advisories/35152 Broken Link
http://secunia.com/advisories/35358 Broken Link
http://secunia.com/advisories/35416 Broken Link
http://secunia.com/advisories/35734 Broken Link
http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200907-06.xml Third Party Advisory
http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-259028-1 Broken Link
http://support.nortel.com/go/main.jsp?cscat=BLTNDETAIL&id=926953 Third Party Advisory
http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb09-06.html Third Party Advisory
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/970180 Third Party Advisory US Government Resource
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2009-0478.html Third Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/34740 Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1022139 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA09-133B.html Third Party Advisory US Government Resource
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1189 Broken Link
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1317 Broken Link
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/50146 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/8570 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
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