CVE-2013-1385 in Shockwave Player
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Shockwave Player before 12.0.2.122 does not prevent access to address information, which makes it easier for attackers to bypass the ASLR protection mechanism via unspecified vectors.
If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/08/2021
Adobe Shockwave Player versions prior to 12.0.2.122 contain a critical vulnerability that undermines fundamental security protections through improper memory management. This vulnerability specifically affects the application's address space layout randomization implementation, a crucial defense mechanism designed to prevent attackers from predicting memory addresses during exploitation attempts. The flaw allows malicious actors to access address information that should remain protected, effectively weakening the security posture of systems running vulnerable versions of the software.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from the player's failure to properly enforce memory address isolation during runtime execution. Address space layout randomization operates by placing program components at random memory locations to prevent attackers from reliably exploiting memory corruption vulnerabilities. When this protection mechanism is bypassed through the information disclosure flaw, attackers gain valuable insights into memory layouts that would otherwise be obscured by randomization. This information disclosure can occur through unspecified vectors within the Shockwave Player's memory management or execution environment, potentially including memory leaks, improper error handling, or insecure data access patterns.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it directly enables more sophisticated exploitation techniques that rely on knowing memory layouts. Attackers can leverage the leaked address information to craft more effective buffer overflow exploits, return-oriented programming attacks, or other memory corruption techniques that depend on precise memory addresses. This weakness significantly reduces the effectiveness of modern exploit mitigation techniques and increases the likelihood of successful compromise. Systems running vulnerable versions of Shockwave Player become more susceptible to remote code execution attacks, particularly when combined with other vulnerabilities that may exist within the same application or its execution environment.
Security researchers have classified this vulnerability under the broader category of information disclosure weaknesses that affect memory protection mechanisms. The flaw aligns with common weakness enumerations related to improper information flow control and memory management failures that undermine system security. From an attack framework perspective, this vulnerability falls within the initial access and reconnaissance phase of the kill chain, enabling attackers to gather intelligence that would otherwise be difficult to obtain. Organizations should prioritize patching affected systems to restore proper address space layout randomization protection and prevent potential exploitation attempts that could lead to full system compromise. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches for multimedia applications that execute untrusted content, as these applications often serve as attack vectors due to their broad compatibility and frequent use in web environments.