CVE-2016-0954

critical

Published 2016-03-09 · Modified 2026-05-06

💬 Discuss on Community ✚ Propose mitigation

CVSS v3

9.8

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v4 NEW

—

not yet in upstream

VIR risk

10.0

Description

Adobe Digital Editions before 4.5.1 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors.

Predictions

Exploit likelihood

97%

Patch ETA

—

Heuristic predictions, AS-IS, for prioritization only.

Mitigations

No mitigations published for this CVE yet.

The vendor-content worker queues fetches as references arrive (check back in a few minutes). Or — if you've already worked around this in production — publish your fix to the community-verified tier.

✚ Propose a mitigation on Community → Mitigations published via the community go through AI scoring + 2 human reviewers + 7-day silent objection window before landing here with source_tier=community-verified.

Exploits

Public proof-of-concept code below. AS-IS, for defenders and authorised testing only.

Exploit-DB

EDB-39533 dos windows verified text · 2 KB

Pier-Luc Maltais · 2016-03-09

Adobe Digital Editions 4.5.0 - '.pdf' Critical Memory Corruption

text exploit Source: Exploit-DB

########################################################################################
 
# Title: Adobe Digital Editions <= 4.5.0 - Critical memory corruption
# Application: Adobe Digital Editions
# Version: 4.5.0 and earlier versions
# Platform: Windows, Macintosh, iOS and Android
# Software Link: http://www.adobe.com/solutions/ebook/digital-editions.html
# Date: March 8, 2016
# CVE: CVE-2016-0954
# Author: Pier-Luc Maltais from COSIG
# Contact: https://twitter.com/COSIG_
# Personal contact: https://twitter.com/plmaltais
 
########################################################################################
 
===================
Introduction:
===================
 Adobe® Digital Editions software offers an engaging way to view and manage eBooks and 
 other digital publications. Use it to download and purchase digital content, which can 
 be read both online and offline. Transfer copy-protected eBooks from your personal 
 computer to other computers or devices. Organize your eBooks into a custom library and 
 annotate pages. Digital Editions also supports industry-standard eBook formats, 
 including PDF/A and EPUB. (http://www.adobe.com/ca_fr/products/digital-editions.html)

########################################################################################
 
===================
Report Timeline:
===================
 2015-10-24: Pier-Luc Maltais from COSIG found the issue and report it to Adobe PSIRT.
 2016-03-08: Vendor fixed the issue (APSB16-06).
 2016-03-08: Release of this advisory.

########################################################################################
 
===================
Technical details:
===================
 A critical memory corruption occurs when Adobe Digital Editions handle a specially
 crafted ExtGstate object, which could lead to remote code execution.
 
########################################################################################
 
==========
POC:
==========
https://plmsecurity.net/sites/plmsecurity.net/files/APSB16-06_PoC.pdf
https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb-bin-sploits/-/raw/main/bin-sploits/39533.zip
 
########################################################################################

Application impact

Vendor	Product	Versions	Fixed
adobe	digital_editions	`{"endIncluding":"4.5.0"}`

References

CWEs

CWE-119

Community-verified mitigations for this CVE will appear above when contributors publish them.

Verify integrity in audit chain (admin only). AS-IS.