In the PDF world it is commonplace to use plug-ins to provide extra functionality and features. But they are known to also create security holes. We reproduce some of the text published in the CERT report:. The purpose of the Reader enabling plugin architecture and IKLA is for licensing only and does not imply suitability or endorsement by Adobe of third party plug-ins.
The Certified Mode of both Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader is used to provide added assurances that only plug-ins provided by Adobe are compatible. All third party plug-ins are restricted to non-certified mode. Unverified non-certified plug-ins can be removed from the plug-ins directory, and they will no longer load at startup. We respect the advice given by CERT, but note that if an attacker permits the loading of unverified non-certified plug-ins which happens by default in all versions of Adobe unless you specifically check a box to say otherwise they may introduce vulnerabilities.
Of course, one must assume that this is precisely what any attacker would therefore do. Normal users familiar with their desktop plug-ins can hardly be criticized for using non-certified plug-ins when you can hardly expect them to understand any of these arcane technical issues, still less comply with them.
There are many Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader plug-ins that can load by design only in certified mode. Certified mode assures that all other plug-ins, loaded with those ones, have been also certified by Adobe. However, with this vulnerability, a plug-in with forged signature can perform virtually everything, including but not limited to:. The following white paper, Plug-ins — a source of insecurity , examines and questions the claims often made by plug-in suppliers that they are secure, giving published examples of where they are not.
It demonstrates why you should not purchase a document security solution that relies on plugins. If you cannot rely on a PDF security plugin working as expected not conflicting or circumvented by other plugins and failing to operate when Acrobat is frequently updated then the plugin is effectively useless. And if you are forced to turn off security in Adobe Acrobat in order to get the PDF security plugin to work see Fileopen Rights Manager as an example then you are putting the security of the application and your system at risk.
Many software product manufacturers provide customer access into their products. There are many reasons to do this, including:. Sometimes these points of access are called APIs, and sometimes they are called plug-ins.
What do they do? They tell the outsider where data is found and how to interpret it. Ideally a plug-in should be secure by virtue of its own design, adding it to an existing application would not add a new weakness, and the plug-in would not conflict with any other plug-ins used in the same application.
However, it seems that plug-ins sometimes conflict with each other. The first thing you are told if there is an issue with an application is to disable all plugins.
And if you do a Google search you will find companies selling plug-in conflict detection tools, so the problem is a genuine hazard. Unfortunately, plug-ins, like any other computer programs, may also contain errors that need to be corrected. So the solution is to update. But of course everyone has to implement the update, and we know just how difficult that is to achieve. And finally, it can be strange to consider that IT departments install plugins without any knowledge of what impact they may have.
A plug-in for example, obtains the rights of the application it is plugged into, which may be very considerable indeed. So plug-ins are not a guarantee of security, and, if used at all, should be used with great care and caution.
Plug-ins and APIs could be made secure, in the sense that by cryptography digital signatures the manufacturer can verify that plug-ins have been digitally signed before allowing the plug-in code to run provided that the manufacturer evaluates and certifies all plug-in code before signing it so that every user may be certain that there can be no compromise to the application.
But only the manufacturer can do that — nobody else. And anyway, what would that mean? Enhance creativity and productivity by learning to use Adobe software to its full potential.
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Build your skills, confidence, and network. Browse resources. Resources Review the exam guides. Discover instructional materials and professional development to help you integrate certification into a curriculum. Purchase GMetrix test prep software to get a taste of the live-in-the-app exam experience and difficulty level. Become an Adobe Certified Professional. Get started. Global Community. Student Competitions. I just noticed that the status, "Currently in Certified Mode:" always reads "Yes" regardless of whether I have checked or unchecked the box.
David Brick. You are right, all your plug-ins are certified at least unless you've installed 3rd party plug-ins. Certified means certified by Adobe, and these are the plug-ins that come with Adobe Acrobat. The fact that it always reports "Yes" for "Certified mode" is probably because you don't have any 3rd party plug-ins installed.
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