News

Research in Motion Issues Fix for BlackBerry PDF Bug

Maker of popular BlackBerry handset issued a patch to plug a vulnerability in its BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) solution.

Research in Motion Ltd., maker of the popular BlackBerry handset, on Friday issued a patch to plug a vulnerability in its BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) solution. The vulnerability could allow hackers to enter into a network via a maliciously crafted PDF file.

The hotfix was distributed via a cluster of updates to BES systems. It's designed to remedy a bug in the PDF distiller function of BlackBerry's attachment mechanism, which enables users to open up documents from the mobile device.

The exploit enabled a remote code execution attack if the user opened up corrupt Adobe or other PDF-type files.

Research in Motion's advisory proposes that network administrators working within a Windows enterprise environment update to BES Version 4.1, Service Pack 6 for Microsoft's Exchange Server.

Using the new patch is much safer than relying on workarounds, according to one network security expert reacting to the news. For instance, relying on updating the BlackBerry Unite software -- an application that can be loaded onto the handset to detect and clean potentially infected files -- isn't the most optimal solution.

"It looks like they [Research in Motion] may have solved the problem for now by what they did [on Friday] because it's very tricky to sanitize these files on the client side," said Kevin Gillis, vice president of product management for IPswitch, a network monitoring, file transfer and messaging software firm in Lexington, Mass. "It's much better to do it on the server side so that the carrier-class scanner is more effective in this case."

Gillis added that the bigger issue now for companies will be reacting to the downtime that may have been caused by putting a temporary moratorium on sending PDFs via the handset, as some enterprises may have done while awaiting the patch.

"You have people sending presentations, graphs and charts all the time over these phones and while the problem is serious enough to wipe out the devices' whole memory storage, I think this is a reminder of why disaster recovery solutions and best practices are important too," he said.

About the Author

Jabulani Leffall is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in the Financial Times of London, Investor's Business Daily, The Economist and CFO Magazine, among others.

Featured

  • Microsoft Offers Support Extensions for Exchange 2016 and 2019

    Microsoft has introduced a paid Extended Security Update (ESU) program for on-premises Exchange Server 2016 and 2019, offering a crucial safety cushion as both versions near their Oct. 14, 2025 end-of-support date.

  • An image of planes flying around a globe

    2025 Microsoft Conference Calendar: For Partners, IT Pros and Developers

    Here's your guide to all the IT training sessions, partner meet-ups and annual Microsoft conferences you won't want to miss.

  • Notebook

    Microsoft Centers AI, Security and Partner Dogfooding at MCAPS

    Microsoft's second annual MCAPS for Partners event took place Tuesday, delivering a volley of updates and directives for its partners for fiscal 2026.

  • Microsoft Layoffs: AI Is the Obvious Elephant in the Room

    As Microsoft doubles down on an $80 billion bet on AI this fiscal year, its workforce reductions are drawing scrutiny over whether AI's ascent is quietly reshaping its human capital strategy, even as official messaging avoids drawing a direct line.