KEV Intelligence

Vulnerability report

Exploited in the wild Confirmed confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2009-0927

Reader and Acrobat

Adobe / Reader and Acrobat

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Severity
CVSS 8.8 · High
Confidence
Confirmed
Exploit status
Exploited in the wild
EPSS
96.6%
First observed
—
Last observed
—

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2009-0927 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting Adobe Reader and Acrobat. Stack-based buffer overflow in Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat 9 before 9.1, 8 before 8.1.3 , and 7 before 7.1.1 allows remote...

Is it exploited?

Yes. KEV Intelligence tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed.

Who is affected?

Adobe / Reader and Acrobat.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Overview

Reader and Acrobat

Stack-based buffer overflow in Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat 9 before 9.1, 8 before 8.1.3 , and 7 before 7.1.1 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted argument to the getIcon method of a Collab object, a different vulnerability than CVE-2009-0658.

View vendor advisory (opens in new tab)
Published
19 Mar 2009
Exploitation Reported
25 Mar 2022
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required

Tags

cisa metasploit

CVE References

  • CVE Record CVE.org · CVE Record https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2009-0927
  • SUSE-SA:2009:014 lists.opensuse.org · Vendor Advisory http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2009-03/msg00005...
  • 256788 sunsolve.sun.com · Vendor Advisory http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-256788-1
  • GLSA-200904-17 security.gentoo.org · Vendor Advisory http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200904-17.xml
  • SUSE-SR:2009:009 lists.opensuse.org · Vendor Advisory http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2009-04/msg00010...
  • 34790 secunia.com · Third-Party Advisory http://secunia.com/advisories/34790
  • 34490 secunia.com · Third-Party Advisory http://secunia.com/advisories/34490
  • 34706 secunia.com · Third-Party Advisory http://secunia.com/advisories/34706
  • 9579 exploit-db.com · Exploit http://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/9579
  • 34169 securityfocus.com · VDB Entry http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/34169
  • 1021861 securitytracker.com · VDB Entry http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1021861
  • ADV-2009-0770 vupen.com · VDB Entry http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/0770
  • ADV-2009-1019 vupen.com · VDB Entry http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1019
  • adobe-unspecified-javascript-code-execution(49312) exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com · VDB Entry https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/49312
  • 20090324 ZDI-09-014: Adobe Acrobat getIcon() Stack Overflow Vulnerability securityfocus.com · Mailing List http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/502116/100/0/threaded
  • zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-09-014 zerodayinitiative.com · CVE Record http://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-09-014
  • adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb09-04.html adobe.com · CVE Record http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb09-04.html

Exploitation evidence

Why KEV Intelligence marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

CISA

Recorded 25 Mar 2022

Independent exploitation attestation added to the KEV Intelligence record.

Proof of concept available

Recorded 28 Apr 2025

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the KEV Intelligence Pro API.

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Source Added
CISA First 2022-03-25 00:00 UTC

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
0
User-Agents
0

Raw values available in Pro and Enterprise.

Virtual patch status

No KEV Intelligence virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Metasploit https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/windows/fileformat/adobe_geticon.rb 29 Apr 2025

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

8.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

96.6%

Weaknesses

Stack-based Buffer Overflow CWE-121

All CVSS Scores

CVSS v3.1 8.8 High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v2.0 9.3 High

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

adobe_geticon

metasploit · Created Unknown

Metasploit module for CVE-2009-0927

adobe_geticon

metasploit · Created Unknown

Metasploit module for CVE-2009-0927

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. Metasploit module available

    Exploit module available

  2. Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  3. Added to CISA KEV

    Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

  4. CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  5. CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

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  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2009-0927

Free JSON includes basic KEV fields 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2009-0927",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 8.8,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.96632,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}

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