CVE-2012-4171 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 cause a denial of service (application crash) by leveraging a logic error during handling of Firefox dialogs.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/12/2021
This vulnerability affects Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR runtime environments across multiple platforms including Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and various Android versions. The flaw manifests as a logic error within the application's handling of Firefox dialog interfaces, creating a condition where malicious input can trigger unexpected behavior leading to application termination. The vulnerability specifically impacts versions prior to the mentioned patched releases, with different version thresholds for different operating systems and platforms. The issue represents a denial of service condition rather than a remote code execution vulnerability, though it can still severely impact system availability and user experience. The logic error occurs during the processing of Firefox dialog elements which Flash Player attempts to interact with, suggesting a lack of proper input validation or error handling within the dialog processing code path.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-248, which describes an unchecked exception in software systems, and can be categorized under ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service attacks. The flaw demonstrates poor defensive programming practices where the application fails to properly validate or sanitize input from external sources, particularly dialog interfaces that may be manipulated by attackers. When Flash Player encounters malformed or unexpected Firefox dialog data, the logic error causes the application to crash rather than gracefully handling the unexpected input. This behavior represents a classic example of how improper exception handling can lead to application instability and denial of service conditions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple application crashes as it can be exploited by attackers to repeatedly destabilize systems where Flash Player is installed. On desktop platforms, users may experience frequent application crashes when visiting malicious websites or interacting with compromised content, while on mobile platforms like Android, the vulnerability can affect the overall stability of applications that rely on Flash Player integration. The cross-platform nature of the vulnerability means that organizations must implement comprehensive patch management strategies across all supported operating systems. Additionally, the vulnerability affects both Flash Player and AIR runtime environments, requiring coordinated patching efforts across different Adobe products. Security teams should be particularly concerned about this vulnerability in environments where Flash Player is actively used, as it can be leveraged to create persistent availability issues.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate patch deployment across all affected systems, with particular attention to the platform-specific version thresholds mentioned in the vulnerability description. Organizations should implement network-level controls to block Flash content where possible, as this reduces exposure to the vulnerability. Security monitoring should include detection of unusual Flash Player crash patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date software and demonstrates why organizations should avoid using deprecated Flash content in their environments. Regular security assessments should verify that all Adobe Flash Player and AIR installations are properly patched and that no legacy versions remain in production environments. System administrators should also consider implementing application whitelisting policies to prevent unauthorized Flash Player installations that may not receive timely security updates.