Adobe Reader has a dangerous ActiveX error

Adobe has reported a dangerous ActiveX security flaw in the Reader and Acrobat application that could be exploited to hijack the system.

Both Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat versions from 7.0.0 to 7.0.8 contain ActiveX components that are corrupted and are at risk of being hacked.

A newly discovered ActiveX security error can be exploited if a user accesses a malicious website via Internet Explorer. The malicious code that attacks the application via security errors will then be executed and allow an attacker to remotely install or execute other malicious software on the system.

French security firm FrSIRT is the first to discover this security error and warn Adobe. Both firms ranked ActiveX errors on the "extremely dangerous" level - the highest level in the scale of risk assessment of security flaws.

Adobe said the newly discovered ActiveX security bug could be temporarily disabled if the user deleted the "AcroPDF.dll" file. Removing this file means disabling the PDF file viewer directly from Internet Explorer.

Other browser versions and non-Windows operating systems do not suffer from the above ActiveX error.

Hoang Dung