CVE-2010-2160 in Flash Player
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Flash Player before 9.0.277.0 and 10.x before 10.1.53.64, and Adobe AIR before 2.0.2.12610, allows attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption) or possibly execute arbitrary code via an invalid offset in an unspecified undocumented opcode in ActionScript Virtual Machine 2, related to getouterscope, a different vulnerability than CVE-2010-2165, CVE-2010-2166, CVE-2010-2171, CVE-2010-2175, CVE-2010-2176, CVE-2010-2177, CVE-2010-2178, CVE-2010-2180, CVE-2010-2182, CVE-2010-2184, CVE-2010-2187, and CVE-2010-2188.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/25/2025
This vulnerability exists within Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR runtime environments where an attacker can manipulate the ActionScript Virtual Machine 2 to trigger memory corruption through an invalid offset in an undocumented opcode. The flaw specifically relates to the getouterscope operation which is part of Flash's bytecode execution model. When processing malformed or crafted Flash content, the virtual machine fails to properly validate input parameters, leading to unpredictable memory behavior that can result in either system crashes or potential code execution. The vulnerability affects multiple versions of Flash Player including those before 9.0.277.0 and 10.x versions before 10.1.53.64, as well as Adobe AIR before 2.0.2.12610, demonstrating the widespread nature of this memory safety issue across different Adobe runtime implementations.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability involves crafting malicious Flash content that contains an invalid offset value within the getouterscope opcode execution path. This particular opcode is responsible for accessing outer scope variables in Flash's execution environment, and when combined with improper input validation, creates a condition where memory corruption occurs during virtual machine processing. The vulnerability falls under the category of memory corruption issues that can lead to arbitrary code execution, making it particularly dangerous for targeted attacks. The fact that this is an undocumented opcode suggests that the vulnerability stems from incomplete implementation or oversight in the virtual machine's handling of edge cases within its bytecode interpretation engine.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to organizations relying on Flash content for web applications, multimedia presentations, or interactive content delivery. The potential for remote code execution means that attackers could leverage this flaw to gain unauthorized access to systems running vulnerable Flash Player versions. The denial of service aspect creates additional risks where legitimate users could be impacted by system crashes or application instability. Security professionals must consider that Flash content is often embedded within web pages and mobile applications, making exploitation vectors diverse and widespread. The vulnerability's relationship to other related CVEs indicates that this represents part of a broader class of issues affecting Flash's virtual machine implementation rather than an isolated incident.
Organizations should prioritize immediate patching of affected systems to address this vulnerability, as the potential for exploitation exists in various attack scenarios. The mitigation strategy should include comprehensive network monitoring for suspicious Flash content, implementation of Flash content filtering policies, and regular security assessments of applications that rely on Flash Player. System administrators should also consider implementing application whitelisting controls to prevent execution of untrusted Flash content. From a compliance standpoint, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-121 which addresses stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and may also relate to CWE-125 which covers out-of-bounds read conditions. The attack surface is particularly relevant to ATT&CK technique T1059.007 which covers scripting languages and T1203 which involves exploitation of remote services, making it a critical concern for enterprise security teams managing web-based applications and content delivery systems.