CVE-2015-5548 in Flash Player
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Flash Player before 18.0.0.232 on Windows and OS X and before 11.2.202.508 on Linux, Adobe AIR before 18.0.0.199, Adobe AIR SDK before 18.0.0.199, and Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler before 18.0.0.199 allow attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-5544, CVE-2015-5545, CVE-2015-5546, CVE-2015-5547, CVE-2015-5549, CVE-2015-5552, and CVE-2015-5553.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/05/2024
Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR products contained a critical memory corruption vulnerability that enabled remote code execution and denial of service attacks. This vulnerability existed in multiple product versions across different operating systems and development tools, making it particularly widespread and dangerous. The flaw manifested as an unspecified memory corruption issue that could be exploited by attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected systems or cause system crashes through denial of service conditions. The vulnerability was distinct from several other related issues affecting the same software ecosystem, indicating a separate code path or underlying flaw within the Flash Player and AIR runtime environments.
The technical nature of this vulnerability falls under memory corruption patterns that are commonly classified as CWE-125, which represents "Out-of-bounds Read" or similar memory handling issues that can lead to arbitrary code execution. Attackers could leverage this flaw by crafting malicious Flash content or AIR applications that would trigger the memory corruption when processed by the vulnerable runtime. The vulnerability's impact was significant because Flash Player was widely deployed across enterprise and consumer environments, making it an attractive target for adversaries seeking to compromise systems through web-based attacks. The affected versions included specific build numbers that were particularly vulnerable, with different patch levels required for Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms.
The operational impact of CVE-2015-5548 was substantial given the pervasive use of Flash Player in web browsers and the broad attack surface it provided. Organizations running affected versions faced potential compromise of user systems through drive-by downloads or malicious web content delivery. The vulnerability's exploitation could result in complete system compromise, allowing attackers to execute malicious code with the privileges of the Flash Player process, which typically ran with user-level permissions. This type of vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for "Command and Scripting Interpreter: Visual Basic" and other execution techniques that leverage runtime environments. The memory corruption nature also made it particularly challenging to detect and prevent through traditional network security controls, as the attack vectors often appeared as legitimate web traffic.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability required immediate patching of all affected Adobe Flash Player and AIR installations across enterprise environments. System administrators needed to implement comprehensive software update policies to ensure all vulnerable versions were replaced with patched releases. The vulnerability's presence across multiple platforms required coordinated remediation efforts, with specific attention to Adobe AIR SDK and compiler versions that were also affected. Organizations should have implemented network monitoring to detect exploitation attempts and applied browser security controls to restrict Flash content execution. The patch management process needed to account for compatibility testing, as Flash Player updates could potentially break existing web applications. Security teams should have also considered implementing application whitelisting policies to prevent execution of untrusted Flash content, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1137 for Office Application Startup. The vulnerability highlighted the importance of maintaining up-to-date runtime environments and implementing layered security controls to protect against zero-day exploits in widely deployed software components.