[aeroaero]

How is this possible? Can someone point me in the direction of what mechanism is used here.

If I open a pdf in chrome for example am I opening myself up to this kind of attack?

[Renaud]

I would say first thing is to disable Windows Explorer from hiding the extension of files.

From what I understand, it was an executable inside a zip attachment to an email disguising itself as a partnership proposal from a reputable source.

The file inside the zip probably had a .pdf.exe extension. By default, Windows Explorer would show it as a .pdf, making it easy to run by mistake.

[andreareina]

Wait it wasn't an executable pdf that escaped the sandbox, it was a *.pdf.exe?? Why does Windows even still have this vulnerability?

[richardjam73]

That should be stopped by the smartscreen prompt which is pretty hard to bypass by accident.

[TheLoafOfBread]

PDF can run JavaScript