A Java insecure deserialization vulnerability in Adobe LiveCycle ES4 version 11.0 and earlier allows unauthenticated remote attackers to gain operating system code execution by submitting specially crafted Java serialized objects to a specific URL. Adobe LiveCycle ES4 version 11.0.1 and later may be vulnerable if the application is installed with Java environment 7u21 and earlier. Exploitation of the vulnerability depends on two factors: insecure deserialization methods used in the Adobe LiveCycle application, and the use of Java environments 7u21 and earlier. The code execution is performed in the context of the account that is running the Adobe LiveCycle application. If the account is privileged, exploitation provides privileged access to the operating system. NOTE: This vulnerability only affects products that are no longer supported by the maintainer.
The product deserializes untrusted data without sufficiently verifying that the resulting data will be valid.
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Livecycle_es4 | Adobe | * | 11.0.1 (excluding) |
It is often convenient to serialize objects for communication or to save them for later use. However, deserialized data or code can often be modified without using the provided accessor functions if it does not use cryptography to protect itself. Furthermore, any cryptography would still be client-side security – which is a dangerous security assumption. Data that is untrusted can not be trusted to be well-formed. When developers place no restrictions on “gadget chains,” or series of instances and method invocations that can self-execute during the deserialization process (i.e., before the object is returned to the caller), it is sometimes possible for attackers to leverage them to perform unauthorized actions, like generating a shell.