CVE-2010-2165 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 unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2010-2160, 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 • 09/15/2021
Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR suffered from a critical memory corruption vulnerability that enabled remote attackers to achieve arbitrary code execution or denial of service conditions through unspecified attack vectors. This vulnerability affected versions prior to 9.0.277.0 for Flash Player 9 and 10.x versions before 10.1.53.64, as well as Adobe AIR versions before 2.0.2.12610. The flaw represented a distinct security issue from multiple related vulnerabilities within the same timeframe, indicating a complex attack surface within the multimedia runtime environment. The vulnerability exploited memory handling mechanisms within the Flash Player architecture, where improper input validation or buffer management allowed attackers to manipulate memory structures in ways that could lead to code execution or system instability.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with common software security weaknesses categorized under CWE-125, which addresses out-of-bounds read conditions, and CWE-787, which covers out-of-bounds write operations. These memory corruption issues typically arise from insufficient bounds checking during memory allocation or data processing within multimedia frameworks. The attack vectors likely involved malformed Flash content or specially crafted SWF files that triggered memory corruption when processed by the vulnerable Flash Player or AIR runtime. Such vulnerabilities often map to ATT&CK technique T1059.007, where adversaries leverage application-specific vulnerabilities to execute malicious code through legitimate system processes. The impact of this vulnerability extended beyond simple denial of service, as the memory corruption could potentially be leveraged to bypass security mechanisms and execute arbitrary code on affected systems.
The operational impact of CVE-2010-2165 was significant given the widespread deployment of Adobe Flash Player across enterprise and consumer environments. Organizations running vulnerable versions faced potential compromise through web-based attacks, particularly when users visited malicious websites or opened compromised email attachments containing Flash content. The vulnerability's exploitation could result in complete system compromise, data exfiltration, or persistent backdoor access depending on the successful execution of the attack payload. Security professionals had to implement immediate patch management protocols to address this vulnerability, as the attack surface was extensive due to Flash Player's prevalence in web browsers and applications. The vulnerability highlighted the critical importance of timely security updates and proper vulnerability management practices within enterprise security frameworks. Organizations needed to balance the need for immediate patch deployment with potential compatibility issues that could arise from updating legacy Flash-based applications.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability included immediate deployment of patches released by Adobe, which addressed the underlying memory handling issues in the affected software versions. System administrators should have implemented network-based protections such as web application firewalls and content filtering to prevent access to known malicious Flash content. Additional defensive measures included disabling Flash Player in web browsers when not required, implementing strict access controls for Flash-based applications, and conducting thorough vulnerability assessments to identify systems running outdated versions. The vulnerability also underscored the importance of maintaining up-to-date threat intelligence feeds and security monitoring systems to detect exploitation attempts. Organizations should have established incident response procedures specifically addressing Flash-based vulnerabilities, as the complexity of these attacks often required specialized forensic analysis to determine full attack impact and remediation requirements.