Security Flaws in Popular Applications Threaten User Devices
Cisco Talos has discovered four critical vulnerabilities in two widely used software platforms—ASUS Armoury Crate and Adobe Acrobat Reader—that, if left unpatched, could have served as a launchpad for cyberattacks. The flaws affect core functionality in both platforms and carry significant risk for privilege escalation, data leakage, and remote code execution.
ASUS Armoury Crate Flaws Could Let Hackers Hijack PCs
ASUS Armoury Crate, pre-installed on many ASUS and ROG-branded devices, controls RGB lighting, fan speeds, and driver updates. Talos reported two severe vulnerabilities in version 5.9.13.0:
- CVE-2025-1533: A buffer overflow in Armoury Crate’s core driver allows attackers to crash the system or run arbitrary code. A crafted system request could be enough to gain full control.
- CVE-2025-3464: An authorization bypass vulnerability lets attackers gain elevated access using file link tricks, bypassing user permissions.
Both issues stem from how the application interacts with the system at a low level, giving attackers an opening to escalate privileges from a regular user account.
Adobe Acrobat Reader Bugs Enable Code Execution via Malicious PDFs
Adobe Acrobat Reader, one of the most common PDF readers worldwide, also carried two serious vulnerabilities uncovered by Talos:
- CVE-2025-43578: An out-of-bounds read issue in Acrobat’s font handling. Attackers could embed malicious fonts in PDFs to access restricted data.
- CVE-2025-43576: A more severe use-after-free flaw in the annotation object processor. It allows a JavaScript payload within a PDF to corrupt memory and execute code.
Both vulnerabilities could be exploited without user awareness, simply by opening a tampered PDF file—making them particularly dangerous in corporate environments.
Updates Released, Users Urged to Patch
Vendors have issued patches for the identified vulnerabilities. Organizations and individual users are strongly encouraged to update affected software versions immediately. Unpatched systems remain exposed to risks of unauthorized access and malware infection, especially in environments that rely heavily on these tools for document management and system configuration.
Security teams should also consider monitoring for exploit attempts and applying policy controls that restrict execution of untrusted PDF content or system-level applications such as Armoury Crate.
These findings reinforce the need for continuous vulnerability management, even in software used for everyday tasks like lighting control or document reading.
