CVE-2012-0751 in Flash Player
Summary
by MITRE
The ActiveX control in Adobe Flash Player before 10.3.183.15 and 11.x before 11.1.102.62 on Windows allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/30/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-0751 represents a critical memory corruption flaw within Adobe Flash Player's ActiveX control implementation on Windows systems. This vulnerability affects multiple versions of Flash Player including those before 10.3.183.15 and 11.x versions prior to 11.1.102.62, making it one of the more widespread security issues in the Flash Player ecosystem during that timeframe. The flaw resides in how the ActiveX control processes certain input parameters, creating opportunities for attackers to exploit memory handling mechanisms through unspecified attack vectors that could lead to complete system compromise.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper memory management within Flash Player's ActiveX component, which is a Windows-specific implementation of the Flash Player runtime environment. When processing certain malformed input or specific sequences of operations, the ActiveX control fails to properly validate memory boundaries or handle buffer operations, resulting in memory corruption that can be leveraged by malicious actors. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-125 weakness category, which specifically addresses out-of-bounds read conditions that can lead to memory corruption and arbitrary code execution. The memory corruption occurs at the kernel or user-mode level within the Flash Player runtime, making it particularly dangerous as it can bypass standard security mechanisms and potentially elevate privileges.
The operational impact of CVE-2012-0751 extends far beyond simple denial of service scenarios, as the vulnerability can be exploited to achieve arbitrary code execution on targeted systems. Attackers can craft malicious web pages or files that, when processed by the vulnerable Flash Player version, trigger the memory corruption flaw and subsequently execute malicious payloads. This capability makes the vulnerability particularly attractive to threat actors seeking to establish persistent access to compromised systems or deploy additional malware. The vulnerability's exploitation can occur through various attack vectors including drive-by downloads, malicious advertisements, or compromised web content, making it a significant threat to enterprise and individual users alike. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to T1059.007 (Command and Scripting Interpreter: Visual Basic) and T1548.002 (Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism: Bypass User Access Control) as attackers can leverage the memory corruption to execute code with elevated privileges and bypass system security controls.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2012-0751 primarily focus on immediate remediation through official Adobe security patches, which address the underlying memory corruption issues in the affected Flash Player versions. Organizations should implement comprehensive patch management processes to ensure all systems running Flash Player are updated to versions 10.3.183.15 or 11.1.102.62 and later. Additionally, security administrators should consider implementing network-based controls such as web application firewalls and content filtering solutions to block potentially malicious Flash content, particularly in enterprise environments where Flash usage cannot be immediately discontinued. The vulnerability also underscores the importance of maintaining up-to-date security intelligence feeds and implementing automated vulnerability scanning to identify systems running outdated Flash Player versions. Given the nature of the exploit, implementing browser security restrictions and disabling Flash Player entirely where possible provides the most robust defense against this and similar vulnerabilities, aligning with ATT&CK's recommendation for reducing attack surface through application whitelisting and process control mechanisms.