CVE-2011-2460 in Flash Player
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Flash Player before 10.3.183.11 and 11.x before 11.1.102.55 on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Solaris and before 11.1.102.59 on Android, and Adobe AIR before 3.1.0.4880, allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2011-2445, CVE-2011-2451, CVE-2011-2452, CVE-2011-2453, CVE-2011-2454, CVE-2011-2455, and CVE-2011-2459.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/26/2021
Adobe Flash Player versions prior to 10.3.183.11 and 11.x versions before 11.1.102.55 across multiple operating systems and Adobe AIR before 3.1.0.4880 contained a critical memory corruption vulnerability that enabled remote code execution attacks. This vulnerability manifested through unspecified attack vectors that differed from several other related security flaws documented in 2011, including CVE-2011-2445 through CVE-2011-2459, indicating a distinct class of memory corruption issues within the Flash Player runtime environment. The vulnerability exploited memory corruption flaws that could be triggered through malformed Flash content delivered via web browsers or other applications that embedded Flash Player functionality. Attackers could leverage this weakness to execute arbitrary code on affected systems with the privileges of the user running the Flash Player application, potentially leading to complete system compromise and persistent backdoor access. The memory corruption aspect of this vulnerability aligns with common software security weaknesses categorized under CWE-125, which describes out-of-bounds read conditions that can result in memory corruption and arbitrary code execution. From an operational perspective, this vulnerability represented a significant risk to enterprise environments since Flash Player was widely deployed across multiple platforms including Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Solaris operating systems, with the Android version affected by a separate but related vulnerability. The attack surface was particularly broad due to Flash Player's integration with web browsers, making it a prime target for drive-by download attacks where malicious websites could automatically exploit the vulnerability without user interaction. This vulnerability also mapped to several techniques within the attack chain framework, including initial access through web-based exploitation and privilege escalation to achieve code execution. Organizations that had not patched their Flash Player installations were particularly vulnerable to exploitation by threat actors who could craft malicious SWF files to trigger the memory corruption, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The remediation required immediate patching of all affected versions across all supported platforms, with security teams needing to conduct comprehensive inventory assessments to identify all systems running vulnerable Flash Player versions. This vulnerability highlighted the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date software components and demonstrated how widely deployed runtime environments could become attack vectors when unpatched. The memory corruption nature of the vulnerability made it particularly dangerous as it could lead to unpredictable behavior including application crashes, memory leaks, or more severe consequences such as code execution. Security professionals needed to implement network-based protections including web application firewalls and content filtering to prevent access to known malicious Flash content while simultaneously deploying endpoint protection solutions that could detect and block exploitation attempts. The vulnerability also underscored the importance of application whitelisting and sandboxing techniques to limit the potential impact of such exploits, particularly in enterprise environments where Flash Player was used extensively for business applications and web content delivery.
The technical complexity of this vulnerability stemmed from the inherent challenges in memory management within Flash Player's ActionScript runtime environment, where improper handling of memory allocations and deallocations could lead to exploitable conditions. The vulnerability's classification under memory corruption patterns aligns with industry standards that emphasize the critical nature of heap-based buffer overflows and out-of-bounds memory access conditions. Organizations needed to implement comprehensive patch management processes specifically targeting Flash Player updates, as the vulnerability affected multiple platforms and required coordinated remediation efforts across different operating system environments. The attack vectors for this vulnerability typically involved social engineering campaigns where users would inadvertently navigate to malicious websites hosting compromised Flash content, making user education and awareness programs crucial components of overall security strategy. Network security teams should have implemented monitoring and detection capabilities to identify exploitation attempts, particularly focusing on traffic patterns associated with Flash Player content delivery and memory corruption attack signatures. This vulnerability also highlighted the need for multi-layered security approaches that combine traditional patch management with behavioral analysis and anomaly detection to identify potential exploitation attempts before they could succeed in compromising systems. The remediation process required careful coordination between IT operations and security teams to ensure that patch deployment did not disrupt business-critical applications that relied on Flash Player functionality while simultaneously addressing the immediate security risk. Organizations that had implemented security controls such as Adobe's Enhanced Security Mode or other sandboxing technologies had reduced exposure to this vulnerability, demonstrating the value of proactive security measures beyond simple patch management. The vulnerability's impact extended beyond individual system compromise to potentially affect entire network infrastructures, particularly in environments where Flash Player was used extensively for business-critical applications and web-based services.