CVE-2010-4190 in Shockwave Player
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Shockwave Player before 11.5.9.620 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a Director movie with a crafted CSWV RIFF chunk that causes an incorrect calculation of an offset for a substructure, wihch causes an out-of-bounds "seek" of heap memory, a different vulnerability than CVE-2011-0555, CVE-2010-4093, CVE-2010-4187, CVE-2010-4191, CVE-2010-4192, and CVE-2010-4306.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/16/2021
Adobe Shockwave Player version 11.5.9.620 and earlier contains a critical memory corruption vulnerability that enables remote code execution or denial of service through maliciously crafted Director movies. This vulnerability specifically affects the processing of CSWV RIFF chunks within Director movie files, where an incorrect offset calculation for substructures leads to improper heap memory handling. The flaw manifests as an out-of-bounds memory seek operation that can corrupt heap memory structures, potentially allowing attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause system instability. This vulnerability operates through a distinct code path from other related issues such as CVE-2011-0555, CVE-2010-4093, CVE-2010-4187, CVE-2010-4191, CVE-2010-4192, and CVE-2010-4306, making it a unique threat vector within the Shockwave Player ecosystem.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the improper parsing of RIFF (Resource Interchange File Format) chunks within Director movies, specifically targeting the CSWV chunk type that contains configuration and control data for Shockwave Player operations. When the player encounters a crafted CSWV RIFF chunk with manipulated offset values, it calculates incorrect memory addresses for substructures within the heap memory space. This miscalculation results in memory access violations where the application attempts to seek beyond the boundaries of allocated heap memory regions. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and boundary checking mechanisms within the Shockwave Player's file parsing engine, particularly in how it handles offset calculations for nested data structures within the RIFF format.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service to potentially enable full system compromise. Attackers can craft malicious Director movies that, when opened by an unpatched Shockwave Player, trigger the memory corruption condition. The out-of-bounds heap seek can lead to memory corruption that may be exploited to overwrite critical memory locations, potentially allowing code execution with the privileges of the affected user. This presents a significant risk in enterprise environments where Shockwave Player is still deployed, as users may encounter malicious content through email attachments, web downloads, or compromised websites. The vulnerability's exploitation requires user interaction to open the malicious file, making it a client-side attack vector that can bypass traditional network-based security controls.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability focus on immediate patching and operational security measures. Organizations should prioritize updating Shockwave Player installations to version 11.5.9.620 or later, which contains the necessary fixes for the offset calculation issue. System administrators should implement network-based controls to block or quarantine Director movie files from untrusted sources, particularly those with embedded CSWV RIFF chunks. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-125 Out-of-bounds Read and CWE-787 Out-of-bounds Write categories, indicating the need for robust input validation and memory safety practices. Additionally, implementing sandboxing techniques and restricting Shockwave Player functionality through browser security policies can provide defense-in-depth protection against exploitation attempts. Security monitoring should focus on detecting unusual memory access patterns and file execution behaviors that may indicate exploitation attempts, as this vulnerability can be leveraged for persistent threat operations within compromised systems.