CVE-2012-2032 in Shockwave Player
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Shockwave Player before 11.6.5.635 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2012-2029, CVE-2012-2030, CVE-2012-2031, and CVE-2012-2033.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/24/2021
Adobe Shockwave Player version 11.6.5.635 and earlier contains a critical memory corruption vulnerability that enables remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or induce denial of service conditions through unspecified attack vectors. This vulnerability represents a distinct security flaw from other related CVEs in the same year, indicating a separate code path or implementation issue within the Shockwave Player runtime environment. The memory corruption aspect suggests that attackers can manipulate memory structures through malformed input data, potentially leading to stack or heap corruption that could be exploited to gain unauthorized code execution privileges. Such vulnerabilities typically arise from insufficient input validation or improper memory management within multimedia player components that handle complex file formats and scripting capabilities.
The technical impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple code execution as it also enables denial of service scenarios that can crash the Shockwave Player application or cause system instability. Memory corruption vulnerabilities of this nature often stem from buffer overflows, use-after-free conditions, or improper handling of dynamically allocated memory segments. These issues are particularly dangerous in multimedia players where complex file parsing and execution environments exist, as the attack surface includes numerous potential input points from various Shockwave file formats, embedded scripts, and multimedia elements. The vulnerability's classification as a memory corruption issue aligns with common CWE categories such as CWE-121 for heap-based buffer overflow or CWE-125 for out-of-bounds read conditions, which are frequently exploited in multimedia player exploits.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risk to organizations relying on Shockwave Player for legacy content delivery, particularly in enterprise environments where outdated multimedia applications remain in use. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability through malicious Shockwave content delivered via web browsers, email attachments, or compromised websites without requiring user interaction beyond visiting a malicious site. The exploitability of such vulnerabilities typically increases when users have Shockwave Player installed and enabled, as the application processes Shockwave files automatically when encountered in web browsing contexts. This vulnerability also aligns with ATT&CK techniques involving initial access through malicious content and privilege escalation through code execution, making it a critical target for security remediation efforts.
Organizations should prioritize immediate patching of affected Shockwave Player installations to address this vulnerability, as Adobe has released version 11.6.5.635 with fixes for this and related memory corruption issues. System administrators should implement network segmentation and content filtering to prevent access to potentially malicious Shockwave content, while also monitoring for exploitation attempts through network intrusion detection systems. Additional mitigations include disabling Shockwave Player in web browsers where possible, implementing application whitelisting policies, and conducting thorough vulnerability assessments to identify other potentially affected systems running older Shockwave Player versions. The vulnerability serves as a reminder of the importance of maintaining current multimedia player software and the risks associated with legacy applications that receive no further security updates or support from vendors.