Be very careful with the PDF files that you open, because they can bring you a huge displeasure. And there is a vulnerability in the well-known Adobe Acrobat DC PDF document reader . This security hole would allow criminals to access the victim's computer.
To take advantage of this vulnerability, all you need is an infected PDF file . When you open the malicious document, a very common hacking technique is deployed, called a buffer overflow.
This ends up causing an error, because the program is not able to control the amount of data that is copied within a given memory area. At that time, the remaining data has to be stored in other areas. A programming error occurs.
According to researchers at Cisco Talos, criminals can take advantage of that bug and have their doors open to overwrite a section of a software program . From there the malicious code is executed. And this is how your computer will start working under the orders of hackers, who will have already become its owners.
The vulnerability has been fixed
But beware, this vulnerability recognized in PDF files would not be the only one that could affect users. These researchers have found a couple more holes that can pave the way for hackers to access our computers. These flaws could allow malicious code to be executed by simply opening a PDF file . While hackers would have to spin a little finer with the former, the effects for users could be exactly the same.
It should be noted that, luckily, Adobe has already fixed these vulnerabilities. So at this time, in principle, they would have already been remedied. Unfortunately, it is not the only intervention that Adobe makes in this direction. At the beginning of May, the company had to launch a first update to correct other bugs in its Cloud and Flash applications .
Be that as it may, and although these problems have been corrected, we recommend that you be cautious when opening PDF files. Forget about opening any document that does not have a clear origin . You will avoid unpleasant surprises.