CVE-2011-0627 in Flash Player
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Flash Player before 10.3.181.14 on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Solaris and before 10.3.185.21 on Android allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via crafted Flash content, as possibly exploited in the wild in May 2011 by a Microsoft Office document with an embedded .swf file.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/23/2026
Adobe Flash Player versions prior to 10.3.181.14 on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Solaris platforms, and before 10.3.185.21 on Android systems contained a critical memory corruption vulnerability that enabled remote code execution through maliciously crafted Flash content. This vulnerability specifically affected the player's handling of embedded .swf files within Microsoft Office documents, demonstrating how attackers could leverage the Flash Player's runtime environment to deliver malicious payloads. The flaw manifested as a heap-based buffer overflow or memory corruption issue that occurred when processing specially crafted Flash content, allowing attackers to overwrite memory locations and potentially execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the Flash Player process. This vulnerability was actively exploited in the wild during May 2011, where attackers embedded malicious .swf files within Office documents to bypass traditional security measures and deliver malware payloads. The attack vector typically involved social engineering campaigns where users would open infected Office documents, triggering the Flash Player to execute the embedded malicious content. The vulnerability's impact extended across multiple operating systems and platforms, making it particularly dangerous as it could affect users regardless of their platform choice. Security researchers classified this issue under CWE-125, which describes out-of-bounds read vulnerabilities that can lead to memory corruption and arbitrary code execution. The exploitation technique aligned with ATT&CK tactic TA0002 (Execution) and technique T1059.007 (Command and Scripting Interpreter: Visual Basic), as attackers leveraged Flash Player's scripting capabilities to execute malicious code. Organizations experienced significant operational disruption as this vulnerability allowed attackers to gain persistent access to compromised systems, often leading to data breaches, system compromise, and lateral movement within networks. The memory corruption nature of the vulnerability meant that even successful exploitation could result in system instability, making it a dual threat of both security compromise and availability impact. This vulnerability highlighted the critical importance of keeping Flash Player updated, as the exploitation occurred before Adobe had released patches to address the memory corruption issues.
The technical nature of the vulnerability stemmed from improper bounds checking within Flash Player's ActionScript interpreter and multimedia processing components. When processing embedded .swf files, the player failed to properly validate memory allocations and buffer boundaries, allowing attackers to craft content that would cause memory corruption during execution. The vulnerability was particularly dangerous because Flash Player's runtime environment was often trusted by users and operating systems, making it an ideal attack vector for privilege escalation and persistent access. Attackers could craft malicious Flash content that would trigger the memory corruption when the embedded .swf file was loaded, regardless of the document type containing it. This cross-platform exploitation capability meant that organizations needed to secure their entire infrastructure, as the vulnerability affected multiple operating systems simultaneously. The memory corruption could manifest in various ways including stack corruption, heap corruption, or pointer dereference errors, all of which could lead to arbitrary code execution. The exploitation timeline in May 2011 indicated that this vulnerability was actively weaponized, with attackers developing sophisticated techniques to bypass security controls and deliver payloads through legitimate Office document formats. Organizations that failed to patch this vulnerability faced significant risk of compromise, as the attack could be delivered through simple email attachments or web browsing activities.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability required immediate patching of all affected Flash Player versions, with security administrators prioritizing deployment of Adobe's security updates released in response to this threat. Organizations needed to implement network-based controls such as content filtering and web proxies to block access to known malicious Flash content, while also monitoring for suspicious .swf file downloads. Endpoint protection measures including real-time scanning and behavior monitoring were essential to detect exploitation attempts before they could succeed. Security teams should have implemented strict access controls to limit the privileges of Flash Player processes, reducing the potential impact of successful exploitation. The vulnerability underscored the need for comprehensive vulnerability management programs that could rapidly respond to newly discovered threats, particularly those affecting widely used software components like Flash Player. Organizations needed to establish incident response procedures specifically designed to handle Flash-based exploitation attempts, including forensic analysis capabilities to determine the scope of compromise. The attack pattern demonstrated the importance of multi-layered security approaches, as relying solely on traditional antivirus solutions proved insufficient against this type of zero-day exploitation. Regular security awareness training became crucial to help users recognize potentially malicious Office documents that might contain embedded Flash content. The vulnerability also highlighted the risks of using legacy software components and the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches across all platforms. Network segmentation strategies were recommended to limit the potential lateral movement if attackers successfully exploited the vulnerability, while also implementing network monitoring to detect unusual Flash Player activity. The incident served as a catalyst for organizations to develop more robust security architectures that could protect against similar exploitation techniques targeting other widely used software platforms.