*** From the Archives ***
This article is from February 26, 2009, and is no longer current.
Protect Against Acrobat JavaScript Buffer Overrun Attack
What if a PDF could compromise the security on your computer, potentially leading to a virus taking control of your system? Adobe recently announced a bug in Acrobat 9 (and earlier versions, too, it says… though it doesn’t specify which other versions). Check out this tech note about it which includes a very easy fix (turn off a checkbox in Preferences).
Note that this bug will likely be patched after March 11, 2009.
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I’ve never personally had that happen, but…
For a format (PDF) which was suppose to be a final product, which was uneditable I find it increasingly unstable. what with all the comment options and the myriad of editing software out there.
I find it just as dangerous these day as Microsoft office files with their “Do you want to enable macros” (read Do you want to install this virus).
“the vulnerability is not in the scripting engine and, therefore, disabling JavaScript does not eliminate all risk”
a.k.a. this solution really is nothing more than putting a band-aid on while on the way to hospital in case you get shot.