CVE-2011-2429 in Flash Player
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Flash Player before 10.3.183.10 on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Solaris, and before 10.3.186.7 on Android, allows attackers to bypass intended access restrictions and obtain sensitive information via unspecified vectors, related to a "security control bypass."
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/20/2021
Adobe Flash Player versions prior to 10.3.183.10 on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Solaris systems, and before 10.3.186.7 on Android devices contained a critical security control bypass vulnerability that enabled attackers to circumvent intended access restrictions and gain unauthorized access to sensitive information. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-284 access control weakness category, specifically representing a failure in security controls that should have prevented unauthorized data access. The flaw manifested through unspecified attack vectors that allowed malicious actors to exploit the application's security model, potentially enabling them to access system resources, user data, or other sensitive information that should have been protected by the Flash Player's security sandbox. The vulnerability's impact extended across multiple operating systems, making it particularly dangerous as it affected a wide range of platforms and devices where Flash Player was commonly deployed. The security control bypass occurred at the application level where Flash Player's intended security boundaries were not properly enforced, allowing attackers to escalate their privileges or access restricted resources through techniques that exploited the underlying implementation flaws in the player's access control mechanisms.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability typically involved leveraging the Flash Player's handling of cross-domain policy files or manipulating the security sandbox enforcement mechanisms that are designed to prevent unauthorized access between different domains or security contexts. Attackers could potentially construct malicious Flash content that would trick the player into relaxing its security restrictions, thereby allowing access to local files, network resources, or system information that should have been restricted. This type of vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for command and scripting interpreter and T1566.001 for spearphishing attachment, as attackers often delivered malicious Flash content through phishing campaigns or web-based attacks that would exploit this security bypass to gain access to sensitive information. The vulnerability's presence in both desktop and mobile platforms created a significant attack surface, as the same exploit could potentially work across different environments, making it a particularly attractive target for threat actors seeking to maximize their impact.
Organizations and users affected by this vulnerability needed to implement immediate remediation measures including updating to the patched versions of Adobe Flash Player, which were specifically designed to address the security control bypass issue and restore proper access restrictions. The patching process involved updating to Adobe Flash Player 10.3.183.10 for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Solaris platforms, and 10.3.186.7 for Android devices. Security administrators should have also implemented network monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts and deployed additional security controls such as web application firewalls or content filtering solutions to prevent delivery of malicious Flash content. The vulnerability highlighted the importance of maintaining up-to-date software and the risks associated with legacy applications, as Flash Player's security model was inherently complex and prone to such control bypass scenarios. Additionally, organizations should have considered implementing application whitelisting policies to restrict execution of Flash content in environments where it was not strictly required, thereby reducing the attack surface for this and similar vulnerabilities. The incident served as a critical reminder of the ongoing challenges in maintaining secure software environments and the necessity of comprehensive vulnerability management programs that address both known and emerging threats.