CVE-2007-5659Adobe Acrobat and Reader Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

Patch nowHigh7.8ExploitedEPSS 87%

CVE-2007-5659 is a classic buffer overflow in Adobe Acrobat and Reader, rated high (7.8 on CVSS 3.1).

Why this priority: Exploited in the wild: listed in CISA's KEV catalog.

Published 12 Feb 2008 · Updated 16 Jun 2026 · NVD status: Analyzed

What it is

Data is copied into a buffer without checking its size and overwrites what follows.

How it is reached

An attacker can exploit it by someone who can already run code or sign in on the machine, without an account, but someone has to act first, such as opening a file or following a link.

What an attacker gains

A successful attack can read the data it protects, change data or behaviour and take it offline. In practice, this kind of flaw lets an attacker crash the process, read memory, or in the worst case run code.

Is it being exploited?

CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2022-06-08: it is being exploited in the wild. EPSS estimates a 87% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 100% of scored CVEs.

What to do

Treat it as urgent: it is on CISA's KEV list. CISA's deadline for US federal agencies: 2022-06-22.
Apply the update for your edition of Adobe Acrobat and Reader. Fixed builds: Acrobat: 8.1.2; Acrobat Reader: 8.1.2.
Limit who can run code or sign in on the hosts that run it.
Warn the people who use it, and filter files and links on the way in.
Check exposed instances for signs of compromise, not only for the version.

Description from NVD

Multiple buffer overflows in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 8.1.1 and earlier allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a PDF file with long arguments to unspecified JavaScript methods. NOTE: this issue might be subsumed by CVE-2008-0655.

What this means for your architecture.

A CVE names a product. Whether it matters depends on where that product sits in your systems: what reaches it, which trust boundary it guards and what it can reach once compromised. Veriom maps your components, their relationships and your trust boundaries from your code, cloud and delivery evidence, so you can see where a component like this sits. The radar itself does not look at your systems.

Components it touches

Native code: operating systems, browsers and firmware. The flaw sits wherever native code reads untrusted data.
Network appliances and media or file parsers. The flaw sits wherever native code reads untrusted data.

Trust boundaries in play

Host boundary. The attacker needs a foothold on the machine first; the flaw turns a small foothold into a bigger one.
People who open files and links. Mail, chat and browsers are the delivery path.
Wherever native code reads untrusted data. An attacker who crosses it can crash the process, read memory, or in the worst case run code.

Questions to answer about your own systems

Where does Adobe Acrobat and Reader run in your systems, and at which version?
Which of those hosts also run code or users you do not fully trust?
What can it reach once compromised: which data stores, secrets and services?

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Advisories

Sources

CVE records and CVSS scores from the NVD CVE API. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
Exploitation status from CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
Exploit likelihood from FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), refreshed daily.
Explanations are written by Veriom from fixed templates over each record’s data, not by a person reviewing each CVE. Descriptions are quoted from the records as published.