2 ms·

Does that mean that opening arbitrary pdfs on your laptop is unsafe?

• bmacho 10mo ago
  Yes, opening random pdfs especially in random and old pdf viewers is not a good idea. If you must open a possibly infected pdf, then do it in browser, pdf.js is considered mostly safe, and updated.
  • rvnx 10mo ago
    Use the PDF to JPG online services, convenient and you still get your result without having to deal with any sandbox
    • bpt3 10mo ago
      Except of course that you're sharing the contents of that PDF with a random online service.
      • rvnx 10mo ago
        True, I just considered that once you handle a PDF with so much care like if it was poisoned, it's perhaps better to send this poison to someone else to handle.
• Sohcahtoa82 10mo ago
  Let me put it this way... In one of my penetration testing training classes, in one of the lessons, we generated a malicious PDF file that would give us a shell when the victim opened it in Adobe. Granted, it relied on a specific bug in the JavaScript engine of Adobe Reader, so unless they're using a version that's 15 years old, it wouldn't work today, but you can't be too cautious. 0-days can always exist.