CVE-2010-2872 in Shockwave Player
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Shockwave Player before 11.5.8.612 does not properly validate an offset value in the pami RIFF chunk in a Director movie, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption) or execute arbitrary code via a crafted movie.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/24/2021
Adobe Shockwave Player version 11.5.8.612 and earlier contains a critical buffer overflow vulnerability in its handling of RIFF (Resource Interchange File Format) chunks within Director movies. The flaw specifically occurs in the pami chunk processing logic where the application fails to properly validate offset values before using them to parse movie data structures. This improper validation creates a condition where maliciously crafted offset values can cause the application to read or write data beyond the bounds of allocated memory buffers, leading to unpredictable behavior.
The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation mechanisms within the Shockwave Player's multimedia processing engine. When a Director movie file containing a specially crafted pami chunk is loaded, the player's parser attempts to interpret the chunk's offset field without adequate bounds checking. This allows attackers to manipulate the parsing process and redirect memory access patterns to arbitrary locations, potentially enabling remote code execution or system crashes. The issue represents a classic buffer overflow condition that can be exploited through crafted file content delivered via web browsers or email attachments.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service scenarios to encompass potential remote code execution capabilities. Attackers can leverage this weakness to execute malicious code with the privileges of the user running the Shockwave Player application, which typically runs with the same permissions as the user's desktop environment. This presents a significant risk to enterprise environments where users may inadvertently open malicious Shockwave content, potentially leading to full system compromise. The vulnerability affects all versions prior to 11.5.8.612 and remains exploitable in environments where older Shockwave Player versions persist.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate patch deployment to update to Adobe Shockwave Player version 11.5.8.612 or later, which includes proper offset validation mechanisms. Organizations should also implement network segmentation and content filtering to prevent access to untrusted Shockwave content, particularly in high-risk environments. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect suspicious file access patterns or memory corruption indicators that may suggest exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, Buffer Overflow in Stack, and represents a significant risk under the ATT&CK framework category of Execution through malicious file delivery. System administrators should also consider disabling Shockwave Player in environments where it is not required, as the attack surface can be reduced by eliminating the vulnerable component entirely.