CVE-2012-4164 in Flash Player
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Flash Player before 10.3.183.23 and 11.x before 11.4.402.265 on Windows and Mac OS X, before 10.3.183.23 and 11.x before 11.2.202.238 on Linux, before 11.1.111.16 on Android 2.x and 3.x, and before 11.1.115.17 on Android 4.x; Adobe AIR before 3.4.0.2540; and Adobe AIR SDK before 3.4.0.2540 allow attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2012-4163 and CVE-2012-4165.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/27/2021
Adobe Flash Player versions prior to specific patches across multiple operating systems contained a critical memory corruption vulnerability that enabled remote code execution attacks. This vulnerability affected Windows and Mac OS X systems running Flash Player versions before 10.3.183.23 and 11.x before 11.4.402.265, Linux systems with versions before 10.3.183.23 and 11.x before 11.2.202.238, Android 2.x and 3.x devices before 11.1.111.16, and Android 4.x devices before 11.1.115.17. Additionally, Adobe AIR versions before 3.4.0.2540 and AIR SDK versions before 3.4.0.2540 were also impacted by this vulnerability. The flaw manifested through unspecified attack vectors that could lead to arbitrary code execution or denial of service conditions, representing a distinct vulnerability from CVE-2012-4163 and CVE-2012-4165 which were related but separate memory corruption issues.
The technical nature of this vulnerability falls under memory corruption patterns that can be exploited through buffer overflows, use-after-free conditions, or other memory management flaws within the Flash Player runtime environment. These types of vulnerabilities are particularly dangerous because they can be leveraged by attackers to execute malicious code with the privileges of the Flash Player process, potentially leading to full system compromise. The vulnerability's impact was significant due to Flash Player's widespread deployment across multiple platforms and operating systems, making it an attractive target for cybercriminals seeking to exploit the largest possible attack surface. Attackers could craft malicious web content or files that would trigger the memory corruption when processed by the vulnerable Flash Player components, resulting in code execution or system crashes.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability created substantial risk for organizations relying on Flash Player for web content delivery, multimedia applications, or enterprise software that utilized Flash-based interfaces. The cross-platform nature of the vulnerability meant that security teams had to implement patch management across multiple operating systems and device types, increasing the complexity of remediation efforts. Organizations faced potential exploitation scenarios where users visiting compromised websites could be silently infected with malware, or where attackers could leverage the vulnerability to establish persistent backdoors. The vulnerability's classification aligns with CWE-122, which covers heap-based buffer overflow conditions, and represents a common attack pattern that can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for execution through Flash-based malicious content. The widespread deployment of Flash Player made this vulnerability particularly dangerous, as it provided attackers with a reliable method for initial access and privilege escalation across diverse computing environments.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability required immediate patch deployment across all affected systems, with particular attention to ensuring that Adobe AIR applications and SDKs were also updated to prevent exploitation through application-level attacks. Security teams should have implemented network monitoring to detect exploitation attempts and established incident response procedures for handling potential breaches. Organizations that could not immediately patch should have considered implementing network segmentation, disabling Flash Player in web browsers, or using browser plugins that could detect and block malicious Flash content. The vulnerability highlighted the importance of maintaining up-to-date software across all platforms and demonstrated how legacy software components could create persistent security risks that required continuous vigilance and proactive management. Regular security assessments should have been conducted to identify all systems running vulnerable versions of Flash Player and AIR, with prioritization based on risk exposure and business criticality to ensure comprehensive remediation coverage.