CVE-2013-5329 in Flash Player
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Flash Player before 11.7.700.252 and 11.8.x and 11.9.x before 11.9.900.152 on Windows and Mac OS X and before 11.2.202.327 on Linux, Adobe AIR before 3.9.0.1210, Adobe AIR SDK before 3.9.0.1210, and Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler before 3.9.0.1210 allow attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2013-5330.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/02/2021
Adobe Flash Player versions prior to 11.7.700.252 on Windows and Mac OS X, and before 11.2.202.327 on Linux, along with Adobe AIR versions before 3.9.0.1210 and related SDK versions, contained a critical memory corruption vulnerability that enabled remote code execution and denial of service attacks. This vulnerability represented a distinct issue from CVE-2013-5330 and exploited unspecified attack vectors within the Flash Player runtime environment. The flaw occurred in the way the software handled certain memory operations during content processing, creating opportunities for malicious actors to craft specially crafted Flash content that could trigger buffer overflows or other memory corruption conditions. These memory corruption issues typically arise when applications write data beyond the boundaries of allocated memory blocks, potentially allowing attackers to overwrite critical program structures or execute arbitrary code within the context of the Flash Player process. The vulnerability affected multiple platforms including Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux operating systems, demonstrating the cross-platform nature of the underlying memory management flaw. The impact of this vulnerability extended beyond simple denial of service scenarios, as successful exploitation could lead to complete system compromise through remote code execution. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability by delivering malicious Flash content through web browsers or other applications that embed Flash Player functionality, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where users frequently access untrusted web content. The vulnerability was classified under CWE-125 as out-of-bounds read conditions and CWE-787 as out-of-bounds write conditions, both of which are common patterns in memory corruption exploits. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability would map to techniques such as T1203 for Exploitation for Client Execution and T1059 for Command and Scripting Interpreter, as attackers could execute malicious code through compromised Flash Player processes. The affected versions of Adobe AIR and AIR SDK were particularly concerning as they represented the development environment used to create Flash applications, meaning that developers working with these versions could inadvertently create applications that were vulnerable to exploitation. The vulnerability required no user interaction beyond visiting a malicious website or opening a malicious Flash file, making it highly dangerous in phishing campaigns and social engineering attacks. Organizations were advised to immediately update to patched versions of Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR, as the vulnerability had a high severity rating and was actively being exploited in the wild. The memory corruption issue was particularly challenging to defend against because it occurred within the trusted execution environment of the Flash Player, making traditional security controls less effective at preventing exploitation. This vulnerability highlighted the importance of keeping multimedia runtime environments updated and demonstrated how legacy Flash content could serve as attack vectors for sophisticated adversaries. The patch release included memory safety improvements and enhanced bounds checking mechanisms to prevent the exploitation scenarios that were possible with the vulnerable versions, addressing both the immediate security concerns and the broader class of memory corruption issues that could affect similar runtime environments.
The technical nature of this vulnerability was rooted in improper memory management within the Flash Player runtime, where the software failed to properly validate memory access boundaries when processing certain types of Flash content. The flaw manifested as a memory corruption condition that could be triggered by malformed or malicious SWF files, which are the executable files used by Flash Player. When the Flash Player attempted to execute these specially crafted files, it would allocate memory for processing the content and then proceed to write data beyond the allocated memory boundaries, potentially overwriting critical program data or executable code. This type of memory corruption is particularly dangerous because it can lead to predictable program behavior changes that attackers can exploit to redirect program execution flow. The vulnerability was particularly concerning for enterprise environments where Flash Player was widely deployed and users had access to untrusted web content, making it a prime target for exploitation by cybercriminals and nation-state actors. Security researchers noted that the vulnerability was part of a larger class of issues affecting Adobe's multimedia runtime, which had previously been targeted by various exploit kits and advanced persistent threat groups. The lack of user interaction requirements meant that simply visiting a compromised website could result in system compromise, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous for mobile and enterprise users who frequently accessed web content. The vulnerability's impact was further exacerbated by the fact that many organizations had legacy Flash content deployed in their systems, creating additional attack surfaces beyond the immediate exploitation vectors. Organizations needed to implement comprehensive patch management strategies to ensure all affected versions were updated promptly, as the vulnerability was actively exploited in various cyber attacks targeting different industries and government sectors. The memory corruption characteristics of this vulnerability made it particularly difficult to detect through traditional signature-based security controls, requiring more advanced behavioral analysis and exploit prevention mechanisms to provide adequate protection against exploitation attempts.