CVE-2010-3648 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-2010-3643, CVE-2010-3644, CVE-2010-3645, CVE-2010-3646, CVE-2010-3647, CVE-2010-3649, CVE-2010-3650, and CVE-2010-3652.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/28/2021
This vulnerability affects Adobe Flash Player versions prior to specific patched releases across multiple operating systems including Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris, and Android platforms. The flaw represents a memory corruption issue that enables remote code execution or denial of service conditions through unspecified attack vectors. Unlike other related vulnerabilities in the same timeframe, CVE-2010-3648 maintains its distinct classification despite sharing the same vulnerability family. The unspecified nature of the attack vectors suggests that multiple code paths within the Flash Player runtime could potentially trigger this memory corruption behavior, making the vulnerability particularly challenging to defend against and analyze.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper memory handling within the Flash Player runtime environment. Memory corruption vulnerabilities typically occur when applications write data beyond allocated memory boundaries or access memory that has already been freed. In the context of Flash Player, this could manifest through malformed SWF file processing, improper handling of multimedia content, or incorrect parsing of embedded objects within Flash applications. The vulnerability's classification as a memory corruption issue aligns with common attack patterns documented in the CWE database under CWE-121, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions, and CWE-122, which covers buffer overflow in stack-based memory structures.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends across multiple platform environments and affects both desktop and mobile operating systems. Attackers could leverage this flaw to execute arbitrary code on vulnerable systems, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The cross-platform nature of the vulnerability means that organizations must implement comprehensive patch management strategies across their entire infrastructure. The denial of service aspect could also be exploited to disrupt services by causing Flash Player processes to crash or become unresponsive, affecting both individual users and enterprise applications that depend on Flash content. This vulnerability particularly impacts environments where Flash Player is widely deployed, including web browsers, corporate applications, and multimedia platforms.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patch deployment across all affected systems, as the unspecified attack vectors make it difficult to predict or prevent exploitation. Organizations should implement network segmentation and application whitelisting to limit Flash Player execution where possible, particularly in high-security environments. The vulnerability's nature as a memory corruption issue aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for Command and Scripting Interpreter, where attackers could potentially use the remote code execution capability to establish persistent access. Security teams should also consider implementing network monitoring to detect suspicious Flash Player activity and establish incident response procedures specifically addressing memory corruption vulnerabilities. Given the age of this vulnerability and its widespread impact, organizations should also evaluate their long-term migration strategies away from Flash-based content to eliminate exposure to legacy vulnerabilities.
The vulnerability demonstrates the complexity of modern software security challenges where seemingly minor memory handling issues can create significant attack surface opportunities. This particular flaw's classification as a memory corruption vulnerability makes it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited through various attack vectors without requiring specific user interaction beyond visiting a malicious website or opening a compromised Flash file. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple exploitation to include potential privilege escalation scenarios, where attackers could leverage the memory corruption to gain elevated system privileges. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as sandboxing mechanisms and privilege separation to limit the potential damage from successful exploitation attempts.