CVE-2011-2128 in Shockwave Player
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Shockwave Player before 11.6.0.626 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2011-2114, CVE-2011-2117, CVE-2011-2124, and CVE-2011-2127.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/19/2025
Adobe Shockwave Player version 11.6.0.626 and earlier contains a memory corruption vulnerability that enables remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service conditions through unspecified attack vectors. This vulnerability represents a distinct security flaw from other related issues within the same year, specifically excluding CVE-2011-2114, CVE-2011-2117, CVE-2011-2124, and CVE-2011-2127. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of memory operations within the Shockwave Player runtime environment, where insufficient input validation and memory management controls allow malicious actors to manipulate memory structures and potentially gain unauthorized code execution privileges. The affected software component processes multimedia content and interactive applications that utilize Shockwave technology, creating multiple potential attack surfaces through various file format handling mechanisms and runtime execution contexts. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability by crafting specially crafted Shockwave content or by exploiting the player's handling of malformed media files that trigger memory corruption conditions during parsing or execution phases. The memory corruption occurs when the player attempts to process untrusted input data without proper bounds checking or memory allocation validation, leading to potential buffer overflows or heap corruption scenarios that can be exploited to execute malicious code with the privileges of the affected user. This vulnerability aligns with common weakness enumerations such as CWE-125, which describes out-of-bounds read conditions, and CWE-787, which covers out-of-bounds write operations, both of which are typical manifestations of memory corruption flaws in multimedia player applications. The attack surface extends beyond simple code execution to include denial of service scenarios where the memory corruption causes application crashes or system instability. From an operational perspective, this vulnerability affects users who have Adobe Shockwave Player installed on their systems and are exposed to malicious Shockwave content through web browsers, email attachments, or downloaded files. The exploitation requires minimal user interaction in many cases, as the vulnerability can be triggered through automatic playback of malicious content within web browsers that have Shockwave Player integrated into their plugin architecture. Security researchers have classified this vulnerability as high-risk due to its potential for remote code execution and the widespread deployment of Shockwave Player across various enterprise and consumer environments. The vulnerability's impact is particularly concerning given that Shockwave Player was commonly used for interactive web content and multimedia applications, making it a prime target for attackers seeking to exploit user interactions with web-based media. Organizations using Shockwave Player should implement immediate mitigation strategies including disabling the plugin in web browsers, applying the vendor-provided security patches, and monitoring network traffic for exploitation attempts. The vulnerability also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059, which covers command and scripting interpreter usage, as exploitation may involve executing malicious code within the context of the Shockwave Player runtime environment. Additionally, the memory corruption characteristics make this vulnerability susceptible to exploitation techniques involving heap spraying, return-oriented programming, and other advanced exploitation methods that leverage memory corruption flaws. The specific nature of the vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper memory management and input validation in multimedia applications, as these components often handle untrusted data from multiple sources and require robust security controls to prevent exploitation. This vulnerability highlights the ongoing challenges in securing multimedia frameworks and plugins that process complex binary formats and interactive content, where the combination of legacy code and complex parsing logic creates numerous potential attack vectors for memory corruption exploits.