Vulnerability Development mailing list archives
Re: PDF modifications?
From: Valdis.Kletnieks () vt edu
Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 08:50:59 -0400
On Fri, 17 May 2002 08:14:18 +0200, "Dawes, Rogan (ZA - Johannesburg)" said:
If the PDF is openable and viewable, but is "protected", so that you can't select or print or annotate, that is easily bypassed with almost any non-Adobe PDF viewer, such as xpdf, which simply elects not to honour that setting in the PDF. The data is all there, because you can view it, it is simply a case of the software choosing to not let you select it. Find some software that doesn't honour those document settings, and you are on your way. As I recall, there was some discussion about this issue on the xpdf lists, or somewhere, about whether xpdf should honour the document requests or not, but it is really moot, since the source is there, just modify it to suit. I think that was the conclusion by the xpdf developers, so they simply didn't bother honouring the setting.
This must have been pre-DMCA. I would recommend that the xpdf developers not visit the US, lest they be Skylarov'ed. (The vuln-dev connection? Consider why Alan Cox censored a Linux kernel changelog - but further discussion should probably be moved to a political list. If you're in the US and of voting age, contact your Congresscreature and tell them you want them to support Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) in his attempts to fix the anti-circumvention clause of the DMCA). We now return you to your regularly scheduled vuln-dev discussion, which may be in violation of the anti-circumvention clause.... -- Valdis Kletnieks Computer Systems Senior Engineer Virginia Tech
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Current thread:
- Re: PDF modifications?, (continued)
- Re: PDF modifications? Sumit Dhar (May 16)
- Re: PDF modifications? Mika Boström (May 16)
- Re: PDF modifications? Matthew Leeds (May 16)
- RE: PDF modifications? Elan Hasson (May 16)
- Re: PDF modifications? Sumit Dhar (May 16)
- Re: PDF modifications? Marukka (May 15)
- RE: PDF modifications? security (May 16)
- Re: PDF modifications? Bogdan Tomchuk (May 17)
- RE: PDF modifications? Tziortzis,George (May 16)
- RE: PDF modifications? Javier Otero (May 16)
- RE: PDF modifications? Dawes, Rogan (ZA - Johannesburg) (May 17)
- Re: PDF modifications? Valdis . Kletnieks (May 17)
- RE: PDF modifications? João Sobral (May 17)
- RE: PDF modifications? Matthew Leeds (May 17)
- Re: PDF modifications? Valdis . Kletnieks (May 17)