CVE-2010-3643 in Flash Player
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player before 9.0.289.0 and 10.x before 10.1.102.64 on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Solaris, and 10.1.95.1 on Android, allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unknown vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2010-3640, CVE-2010-3641, CVE-2010-3642, CVE-2010-3644, CVE-2010-3645, CVE-2010-3646, CVE-2010-3647, CVE-2010-3648, CVE-2010-3649, CVE-2010-3650, and CVE-2010-3652.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/28/2021
This vulnerability represents a critical memory corruption flaw in Adobe Flash Player that affects multiple operating systems and platforms. The issue exists in versions prior to 9.0.289.0 for Flash Player 9 and 10.x versions before 10.1.102.64 on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Solaris, with Android versions affected starting at 10.1.95.1. The vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service conditions through unspecified attack vectors that differ from several other related vulnerabilities in the same timeframe. This particular flaw demonstrates the inherent complexity of multimedia player security where memory corruption vulnerabilities can provide attackers with extensive control over affected systems.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with common software security weaknesses identified in the CWE database, specifically relating to memory safety issues and buffer overflows that can lead to arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability's classification as a memory corruption issue indicates that attackers can manipulate memory contents through crafted input or malformed Flash content, potentially leading to privilege escalation or complete system compromise. This type of vulnerability is particularly dangerous because Flash Player was widely deployed across multiple platforms and operating systems, creating an extensive attack surface that could be exploited through various delivery mechanisms including web browsers, email attachments, or malicious websites.
From an operational perspective, the impact of this vulnerability extends across multiple attack vectors and platforms, making it particularly concerning for enterprise security teams. The fact that this vulnerability affects both desktop and mobile platforms including Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris, and Android systems means that organizations must implement comprehensive patch management strategies across their entire infrastructure. The vulnerability's relationship to other CVEs in the same year demonstrates the pattern of coordinated vulnerabilities that often appear in complex software systems, where multiple flaws can be exploited in combination to achieve more sophisticated attacks. This vulnerability also aligns with ATT&CK framework techniques related to exploitation of software vulnerabilities and privilege escalation through memory corruption attacks.
Organizations should prioritize immediate patching of affected systems as the primary mitigation strategy, since this vulnerability represents a high-severity threat that can be exploited remotely without user interaction. The patching process must be carefully managed to ensure compatibility across different operating systems and platforms, particularly given the cross-platform nature of the vulnerability. Additional defensive measures should include network segmentation to limit exposure, web application firewalls to filter malicious Flash content, and user education to avoid suspicious web content. Security monitoring should focus on detecting unusual memory access patterns or system behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts, as memory corruption vulnerabilities often leave detectable traces in system logs and network traffic. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date security intelligence feeds and vulnerability assessments to identify similar issues in other software components that may present similar attack surfaces.