CVE-2012-5274 in Flash Player
Summary
by MITRE
Buffer overflow in Adobe Flash Player before 10.3.183.43 and 11.x before 11.5.502.110 on Windows and Mac OS X, before 10.3.183.43 and 11.x before 11.2.202.251 on Linux, before 11.1.111.24 on Android 2.x and 3.x, and before 11.1.115.27 on Android 4.x; Adobe AIR before 3.5.0.600; and Adobe AIR SDK before 3.5.0.600 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2012-5275, CVE-2012-5276, CVE-2012-5277, and CVE-2012-5280.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/18/2021
Adobe Flash Player suffered from a critical buffer overflow vulnerability that affected multiple operating systems and versions of the software. This vulnerability existed in Flash Player versions prior to 10.3.183.43 for Windows and Mac OS X, 10.3.183.43 for Linux, 11.5.502.110 for Windows and Mac OS X, 11.2.202.251 for Linux, 11.1.111.24 for Android 2.x and 3.x, and 11.1.115.27 for Android 4.x. Additionally, Adobe AIR versions before 3.5.0.600 and Adobe AIR SDK versions before 3.5.0.600 were also impacted by this flaw. The vulnerability allowed remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected systems through unspecified attack vectors that differed from other related vulnerabilities such as CVE-2012-5275 through CVE-2012-5280. This buffer overflow condition occurred when the Flash Player processed malicious content, specifically when handling certain data structures that exceeded allocated memory boundaries. The flaw exploited memory management issues within the Flash Player runtime environment, creating opportunities for attackers to inject and execute malicious code with the privileges of the Flash Player process. The vulnerability was particularly dangerous because Flash Player was widely deployed across multiple platforms and operating systems, making it an attractive target for attackers seeking to compromise user systems. The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which describes stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and CWE-122, which covers heap-based buffer overflow scenarios. From an operational perspective, this vulnerability could be exploited through various attack vectors including malicious web content, specially crafted SWF files, or compromised websites that loaded Flash content. The impact of successful exploitation could result in complete system compromise, allowing attackers to install malware, steal sensitive data, or establish persistent access to affected systems. The vulnerability was particularly concerning due to the widespread use of Flash Player across desktop and mobile platforms, with the Android versions being especially vulnerable due to the mobile operating system's adoption of Flash Player for multimedia content delivery. Organizations implementing mitigation strategies needed to prioritize immediate patching of affected systems, as the vulnerability was actively exploited in the wild. The remediation efforts required coordinated updates across multiple platforms and software versions, including not only Flash Player updates but also corresponding Adobe AIR and AIR SDK patches to ensure complete protection against this specific buffer overflow exploit.
This vulnerability represented a significant security risk due to the privileged execution context in which Flash Player operated. The buffer overflow allowed attackers to overwrite memory locations and potentially redirect program execution flow to malicious code, creating a pathway for privilege escalation attacks. The attack surface was extensive given Flash Player's integration with web browsers and its widespread deployment across different operating systems and mobile platforms. Security researchers noted that the vulnerability could be leveraged to bypass security controls such as sandboxing mechanisms that were designed to isolate Flash Player execution from the underlying operating system. The exploitability of this vulnerability was enhanced by the fact that Flash Player was often enabled by default in web browsers, making it easier for attackers to deliver malicious content through standard web browsing activities. The vulnerability's classification under the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures database highlighted its severity and the need for immediate remediation actions. Organizations needed to implement comprehensive patch management processes to address this vulnerability across their entire infrastructure, including desktop systems, mobile devices, and server environments where Flash Player might be installed. The remediation process required careful coordination between security teams, IT operations, and application developers to ensure that all affected systems were properly updated without disrupting legitimate business operations. Given the complexity of managing patches across multiple platforms and versions, many organizations had to develop specialized deployment strategies to address the various affected configurations and ensure complete coverage of their network assets.
The operational impact of this buffer overflow vulnerability extended beyond simple code execution, as it could enable sophisticated attack scenarios including data exfiltration, system persistence, and lateral movement within compromised networks. Attackers could leverage the vulnerability to establish backdoors, deploy keyloggers, or install additional malware components that would persist across system reboots. The vulnerability's presence in Adobe AIR applications was particularly concerning as it extended the attack surface to desktop applications that used AIR runtime environments. Security professionals observed that the vulnerability could be combined with other exploits to create more sophisticated attack chains, potentially leading to complete system compromise and unauthorized access to sensitive organizational data. The mobile platform impact was significant given the widespread adoption of Android devices and the use of Flash Player for multimedia content in mobile applications. The vulnerability's exploitation required minimal user interaction in many cases, as the malicious Flash content could be delivered through standard web browsing or email attachments. This made the vulnerability particularly dangerous for enterprise environments where users frequently accessed the internet and opened email attachments containing potentially malicious content. The ATT&CK framework classification would place this vulnerability within the execution and privilege escalation domains, as attackers could leverage it to execute arbitrary code and potentially gain elevated privileges on target systems. Organizations needed to implement layered security controls including network monitoring, application whitelisting, and endpoint protection solutions to detect and prevent exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's widespread impact across multiple platforms required security teams to develop platform-specific mitigation strategies while maintaining overall security posture consistency. Incident response procedures had to be updated to include detection and response protocols for this specific vulnerability, ensuring that security teams could quickly identify and respond to exploitation attempts. The long-term impact of this vulnerability highlighted the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and the risks associated with running outdated software versions in enterprise environments.