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Adobe Acrobat Reader DC security update installs Chrome spyware


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Adobe Acrobat Reader DC security update installs Chrome spyware

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Did you notice the Google Chrome Extension for Adobe Acrobat when you opened Chrome? If you did and you clicked on Remove button, you are probably safe but if you chose to let the extension be added to your browser, you might be in trouble.

The extension gets installed on the system discreetly and includes telemetry features for data collection. The data is sent to Adobe’s servers, which the company claims is just information about browser type and version installed on the system and no personal data is being collected. But still, combining a Chrome extension into a security update is quite suspicious an act considering that users are going to install it unknowingly

In April 2015, Adobe put Acrobat Reader in the cloud, creating Acrobat DC. Those who have not gone to the cloud are still running Reader XI, which will lose support in October 2017. Acrobat DC is split into two branches, the "continuous release track" -- the one affected by the spyware this month -- and the "classic release track," which freezes the feature set at 2015 levels.

Adobe Acrobat Reader routinely receives a dozen or more security patches every month. As Lucian Constantin reported in PC World, this month, 29 security holes were plugged.

The latest version numbers:

  • Reader DC continuous release track: 15.023.20053
  • Reader DC classic release track: 15.006.30279
  • Reader XI: 11.0.19

As reported by Catalin Cimpanu on BleepingComputer and confirmed by Martin Brinkmann at ghacks, installing the DC continuous release track patch, which is the one that most Acrobat Reader users will install, brings along an extension for Google Chrome only, on Windows only. The Chrome extension is installed without notifying you or asking for permission.

Overview.png

It's called "Adobe Acrobat" and it can:

  • Read and change all your data on the websites you visit
  • Manage your downloads
  • Communicate with cooperating native applications

Fortunately, if you are running Chrome when you install the latest Acrobat security patch, or when you restart Chrome after installing the security patch, Chrome's smart enough to detect that a new extensions has been added, and to ask your permission before enabling it (screenshot).

acrobat-added-100704090-medium.jpeg

Unfortunately, the default action selected is to enable the spyware. Unless you specifically click Remove from Chrome, the extension gets installed and armed. You see this notification.

With this all-new extension, you can:

  • Easily turn web pages into PDF files so they look and act just like the page you converted -- keeping original links, layout, and formatting intact
  • Quickly switch from viewing PDFs in Chrome to opening them in Acrobat on your desktop
  • Explore Adobe Document Services to convert and combine files in your browser

Please note: With this release, you can share information with Adobe about how you use the application. This option is turned on by default. The information is anonymous and will help us improve product quality and features. You can change this setting at any time in Options for this Chrome extension.

You're to be forgiven if that sounds a whole lot like Windows 10 data collection method. Apparently Adobe now feels it's entitled to install spyware without your permission.

If you installed the spyware, you can turn it off. In Chrome, click the three dots in the upper right corner, choose More tools > Extensions. To the right of the entry for Adobe Acrobat, click the trash can, then Remove. Restart Chrome and it's gone.

For those who manage multiuser, here is where the new Reader DC plugin is loaded from. Delete this key and Chrome will not prompt to install it:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Google\Chrome\Extensions\efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj

But why use a PDF viewer? Chrome already has good PDF viewing capabilities and a solid editor to help you fill out forms. (Tip: To save a filled-out form in Chrome, use Print, then Save as PDF.) If you're running Windows 10, Edge has a built-in PDF viewer.

 

 

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