CVE-2010-2189 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, when used in conjunction with VMWare Tools on a VMWare platform, allows attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption) or possibly execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/25/2025
Adobe Flash Player versions prior to 9.0.277.0 and 10.x versions before 10.1.53.64, alongside Adobe AIR versions before 2.0.2.12610, contain a critical vulnerability when operating within VMware virtual machine environments. This flaw manifests through unspecified attack vectors that enable malicious actors to trigger memory corruption conditions leading to either denial of service or potential arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability specifically leverages the interaction between Flash Player and VMware Tools, creating a unique exploitation scenario that differs from standard Flash Player vulnerabilities. The memory corruption aspect of this vulnerability aligns with common software security weaknesses categorized under CWE-125, which deals with out-of-bounds read conditions, and CWE-787, which addresses out-of-bounds write vulnerabilities. The operational impact of this flaw extends beyond typical denial of service scenarios as it potentially allows for privilege escalation and system compromise within virtualized environments where VMware Tools are actively deployed. Attackers exploiting this vulnerability could leverage the memory corruption to manipulate heap structures and potentially overwrite critical program execution elements, making this issue particularly dangerous in enterprise virtualization infrastructures where multiple virtual machines share host resources. The vulnerability's presence in VMware environments specifically relates to how virtualized graphics and multimedia components interact with the hypervisor layer, creating attack surfaces that traditional security measures might not adequately protect against.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper memory management within Flash Player's handling of multimedia content when executed in VMware virtualized environments. The interaction with VMware Tools creates a complex attack surface where Flash Player's memory allocation patterns can be manipulated through carefully crafted malicious content. This exploitation scenario represents a sophisticated attack vector that requires specific environmental conditions including the presence of VMware Tools and particular Flash Player versions, making it less common but more dangerous when present. The vulnerability demonstrates how virtualization technologies can introduce unique security challenges that extend beyond traditional software security boundaries. From an attack perspective, this flaw operates within the ATT&CK framework under the T1059.007 technique category for Windows Scripting, and potentially T1068 for Local Privilege Escalation, as attackers may leverage the memory corruption to gain elevated system privileges. The memory corruption aspect directly relates to T1070.004 for Indicator Removal, as attackers may attempt to cover their tracks by corrupting memory structures that contain security-related data.
Organizations utilizing VMware virtualized environments with Flash Player installations must implement immediate mitigation strategies to address this vulnerability. The most effective approach involves deploying patched versions of Flash Player and Adobe AIR as soon as possible, with particular attention to ensuring that all virtual machines running VMware Tools are updated. Network segmentation and access controls should be implemented to limit exposure of vulnerable systems to untrusted content sources. Security monitoring should focus on detecting anomalous memory allocation patterns and unexpected process behaviors that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's specificity to VMware environments means that organizations should consider implementing additional security controls at the hypervisor level to monitor for suspicious Flash Player activities. Incident response procedures must include specific checks for memory corruption indicators and potential privilege escalation attempts. Regular vulnerability assessments should verify that all virtual machines within the infrastructure are running patched software versions, with particular emphasis on ensuring that VMware Tools configurations do not inadvertently expose vulnerable Flash Player installations to attack vectors. The remediation process should also include verification that the patched versions are properly deployed across all virtualized environments, as the vulnerability specifically requires the combination of Flash Player and VMware Tools to be effective.