# CVE-2003-0142: Security feature bypass in n/a

> Attackers can bypass security restrictions to run untrusted plugins by exploiting signature validation flaws in Adobe Acrobat Reader.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 17 Jul 2003
- **Updated:** 8 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-r77q-2w9x-9gcq

## What is CVE-2003-0142?

CVE-2003-0142 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader, published on 17 Jul 2003. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Adobe Acrobat Reader (acroread) 6, under certain circumstances when running with the "Certified plug-ins only" option disabled, loads plug-ins with signatures used for older versions of Acrobat, which can allow attackers to cause Acrobat to enter Certified mode and run untrusted plugins by modifying the CTIsCertifiedMode function.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2003-0142?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Adobe Acrobat Reader.

## How do I fix CVE-2003-0142?

No fix has been published for CVE-2003-0142 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2003-0142 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2003-0142 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Adobe Acrobat Reader

- [CVE-2009-0927](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-0927/): Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat Stack-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2014-0511](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-0511/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2014-0512](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-0512/): Security feature bypass in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2004-1152](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-1152/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2004-1153](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-1153/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2003-0142 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2003-0142 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader, published on 17 Jul 2003. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2003-0142 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Adobe Acrobat Reader. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2003-0142/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2003-0142/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2003-0142
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2003-0142
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2003-0142

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2003-0142/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.