RIM warns of vulnerabilities in PDF distiller

Research in Motion (RIM) issued a security alert that warns of an attack vector targeting its software when BlackBerry users access PDF files.

RIM found flaws in the BlackBerry Attachment Service used to send and read files on mobile devices.

"Multiple security vulnerabilities exist in the PDF distiller of some released versions of the BlackBerry Attachment Service component of the BlackBerry Enterprise Server," the company warned. "These vulnerabilities could enable a malicious individual to send an email containing a specially crafted PDF file which, when opened for viewing on a BlackBerry smartphone that is associated with a user account on a BlackBerry Enterprise Server, could cause memory corruption and possibly lead to a denial of service condition or arbitrary code execution on the computer that hosts the BlackBerry Attachment Service component of that BlackBerry Enterprise Server."

RIM has issued several security updates to fix the problems in its BlackBerry Enterprise Service and Professional software. RIM is also suggesting that users open PDF attachments only from sources they trust.  

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos claims RIM has removed PDF files from the list of allowed extensions as a stop-gap move. "Of course, PDFs are widely used in business, so I can't imagine that many firms will find that an acceptable solution for very long," he said.

For more:
- check out this V3.co.uk article

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