CVE-2009-1862

Exp

Unspecified vulnerability in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x through 9.1.2, and Adobe Flash Player 9.x through 9.0.159.0 and 10.x through 10.0.22.87, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via (1) a crafted Flash application in a .pdf file or (2) a crafted .swf file, related to authplay.dll, as exploited in the wild in July 2009.

Published: 2009-07-23 Last update: 2026-04-22 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2009-1862 is rated Critical Active Threat (91.1/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 58.57%, 98th percentile). CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2022-06-08) affecting Adobe / Acrobat and Reader, Flash Player. a weakness (CWE-787) Unauthenticated remote administrative access may be possible. 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-2009-1862

Name: Adobe Acrobat and Reader, Flash Player Unspecified Vulnerability · CISA KEV detail

Exploit added: 2022-06-08

Action due: 2022-06-22

Required action: For Adobe Acrobat and Reader, apply updates per vendor instructions. For Adobe Flash Player, the impacted product is end-of-life and should be disconnected if still in use.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2009-1862

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 2025-12-12 57.99% 58.57% +0.57%
2 2025-06-11 62.78% 57.99% -4.78%
3 2025-06-10 — 62.78% —

Full EPSS history (18 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2009-1862

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-2009-1862

OS Trackers for CVE-2009-1862

vendor priority summary link
gentoo normal CVE-2009-1862: 1 GLSA(s) (200908-04), 2 atom(s) (app-text/acroread, www-plugins/adobe-flash); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2009-1862
redhat critical — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2009-1862
ubuntu medium CVE-2009-1862 medium priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (adobe-flashplugin, flashplugin-nonfree), 12 status rows across 6 suites (dapper, hardy, intrepid, jaunty, karmic, upstream): released 10, DNE 1, ignored 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2009-1862

NVD evaluator notes for CVE-2009-1862

Impact: Per: http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/259425 "Adobe Flash is a widely deployed multimedia platform typically used to provide content in web sites. Adobe Flash Player, Reader, Acrobat, and other Adobe products include Flash support. Adobe Flash Player contains a code execution vulnerability. An attacker may be able to trigger this vulnerability by convincing a user to open a specially crafted Flash (SWF) file. The SWF file could be hosted or embedded in a web page or contained in a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. If an attacker can take control of a website or web server, trusted sites may exploit this vulnerability. This vulnerability affects Adobe Flash versions 9.0.159.0 and 10.0.22.87 and earlier 9.x and 10.x versions. Adobe Reader 9, Acrobat 9, and other Adobe products (including Photoshop CS3, PhotoShop Lightroom, Freehand MX, Fireworks) provide Flash support independent of Flash Player. As of 2009-07-22, Adobe Reader 9.1.2 includes Flash 9.0.155.0, which is likely vulnerable to issues addressed by Flash 9.0.159.0"

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2009-1862

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
adobe acrobat >= 9.0, <= 9.1.2 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:acrobat:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe acrobat_reader >= 9.0, <= 9.1.2 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:acrobat_reader:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe flash_player >= 9.0, <= 9.0.159.0 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:flash_player:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
adobe flash_player >= 10.0, <= 10.0.22.87 cpe:2.3:a:adobe:flash_player:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2009-1862

URL Tags
http://blogs.adobe.com/psirt/2009/07/potential_adobe_reader_and_fla.html Broken Link Vendor Advisory
http://bugs.adobe.com/jira/browse/FP-1265 Broken Link
http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=6847 Not Applicable
http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2009/Sep/msg00003.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2009/Sep/msg00004.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10293389-245.html Broken Link
http://secunia.com/advisories/36193 Broken Link
http://secunia.com/advisories/36374 Broken Link
http://secunia.com/advisories/36701 Broken Link
http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200908-04.xml Third Party Advisory
http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-266108-1 Broken Link
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3864 Third Party Advisory
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3865 Third Party Advisory
http://www.adobe.com/support/security/advisories/apsa09-03.html Vendor Advisory
http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb09-10.html Not Applicable
http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb09-13.html Not Applicable
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/259425 Third Party Advisory US Government Resource
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/35759 Broken Link Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.symantec.com/business/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2009-072209-2512-99 Broken Link
http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/next-generation-flash-vulnerability Broken Link
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2009-1862 US Government Resource
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