CVE-2012-5277 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-2012-5274, CVE-2012-5275, CVE-2012-5276, 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 platform versions across Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and various Android versions. 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 attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected systems through unspecified attack vectors that differed from other contemporaneous Flash Player vulnerabilities including CVE-2012-5274 through CVE-2012-5280. This buffer overflow flaw represented a significant security risk as it provided attackers with a pathway to gain unauthorized code execution privileges, potentially enabling full system compromise. The vulnerability's impact was particularly severe due to Flash Player's widespread deployment across multiple operating systems and platforms, making it an attractive target for exploit development. The technical nature of the buffer overflow indicated that memory management within Flash Player's handling of certain data inputs was insufficiently validated, allowing attackers to overwrite adjacent memory locations and potentially redirect program execution flow. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions, and represents a classic example of how improper input validation can lead to arbitrary code execution. The attack surface was extensive given Flash Player's integration with web browsers and its prevalence in enterprise and consumer environments, creating numerous potential exploitation opportunities.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extended beyond simple code execution to encompass full system compromise capabilities that could be leveraged by threat actors for persistent access. Attackers could craft malicious Flash content that would trigger the buffer overflow when executed by vulnerable Flash Player installations, leading to remote code execution without user interaction in many scenarios. The vulnerability's presence across multiple platforms including mobile operating systems like Android demonstrated the widespread nature of the risk and the difficulty in providing comprehensive protection through platform-specific patches alone. Security researchers noted that the unspecified attack vectors suggested the vulnerability could be exploited through various methods including malformed multimedia content, embedded objects, or other Flash-specific data structures that Flash Player failed to properly validate. This characteristic made the vulnerability particularly challenging to defend against as it could potentially be triggered through multiple attack paths, increasing the probability of successful exploitation. The impact was further compounded by the fact that many organizations continued to use older Flash Player versions due to legacy application dependencies, creating extended windows of exposure. Organizations that had not yet migrated away from Flash-based applications faced elevated risk levels as they were more likely to have vulnerable systems in production environments.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability required immediate patching of affected Flash Player installations across all supported platforms, with particular attention to the specific version thresholds mentioned in the vulnerability description. Organizations should have implemented strict controls around Flash Player usage, including disabling Flash content in web browsers where possible and implementing network-level controls to block Flash content from untrusted sources. The vulnerability highlighted the importance of maintaining current software versions and implementing robust patch management processes to address security flaws promptly. Security teams needed to conduct comprehensive inventory assessments to identify all systems running vulnerable Flash Player versions and prioritize remediation efforts accordingly. Additionally, organizations should have implemented monitoring and detection capabilities to identify potential exploitation attempts, including network traffic analysis for suspicious Flash content delivery and endpoint monitoring for unusual process behaviors that might indicate successful exploitation. The vulnerability underscored the need for layered security approaches that combine software patching with network segmentation, application whitelisting, and user education to reduce overall risk exposure. Incident response procedures should have been updated to include specific guidance for handling Flash-based vulnerabilities, ensuring that security teams could respond effectively to potential exploitation attempts. Organizations should have also considered the broader implications of Flash Player's end-of-life and accelerated migration away from Flash-based technologies to reduce long-term security risks. The vulnerability's classification as a remote code execution flaw emphasized the need for continuous security assessments and the importance of maintaining up-to-date threat intelligence to identify similar vulnerabilities in other software components.