Adobe: switch off Javascript in PDF Reader

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 29 Apr 2009 at 08:43

Adobe is urging customers to disable Javascript in its Reader and Acrobat products, in a bid to thwart a serious security bug.

The bug potentially allows attacker to run malicious code on end-users' machines, although Adobe insists that it's "unaware" of any exploits in the wild.

Nevertheless, the company is urging all users of Adobe Reader and Acrobat to disable Javascript in the products until it can drum up a patch.

Adobe claims that "all currently supported shipping versions of Adobe Reader and Acrobat (Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.1, 8.1.4, and 7.1.1 and earlier versions) are vulnerable to this issue."

The company says it will provide "updates for all affected versions for all platforms (Windows, Macintosh and Unix) to resolve this issue", although has yet to confirm when these patches will arrive.

The software maker says it's also working with antivirus companies to prevent attackers from exploiting the bug on people's machines.

Full instructions on how to disable Javascript in the affected products are available from the Adobe security site.