Attacker Compromises Adobe User Forum Web Site

Adobe Confirms Breach on Connectusers.com –  Site Taken Offline

Adobe has confirmed claims made by an Egyptian hacker that a database behind Connectusers.com was breached. The company is still investigating, but cached copies of the forum’s source code show a possible explanation as to the cause – outdated forum software.

On Tuesday, the Egyptian source for the leaked records, who goes by the name ViruS_HimA, outlined in a statement that the entire ordeal was nothing but a security test. He isn’t “looking to ruin Adobe” he said, and claims that he will send full details of his attack to Adobe’s security team.

Based on the attacker’s comments, the leak was due to the lack of response from Adobe when security issues were reported to them months ago. The idea of Adobe ignoring a vulnerability report seems odd, given that they have put a good deal of effort into changing their internal and developmental security posture. Either way, Adobe still has to clean-up in the aftermath of the attack, a process that according to the software maker is already underway.

“Adobe is currently investigating reports of a compromise of a Connectusers.com forum database,” the company noted in a blog post.

“At this point of our investigation, it appears that the Connectusers.com forum site was compromised by an unauthorized third party. It does not appear that any other Adobe services, including the Adobe Connect conferencing service itself, were impacted.”

Adobe has taken the Connectusers.com forum offline, and has begun to reset the passwords of those who had their accounts published publically. The records published included accounts held by Adobe employees and government staffers in the U.S. and U.K.

Speculation holds that the attack was either SQL Injection or Cross-Site Scripting, due to the fact that the forum software used by Adobe, PunBB, was recently patched against such threats. Adding fuel to the speculation is the copyright date displayed by the software, which suggests that it is from a version released prior to those issues being addressed.

In a statement, Adobe said that they used version 1.4.2, but they are still investigating the method used to attack the forum.