CVE-2015-7633 in Flash Player
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Flash Player before 18.0.0.252 and 19.x before 19.0.0.207 on Windows and OS X and before 11.2.202.535 on Linux, Adobe AIR before 19.0.0.213, Adobe AIR SDK before 19.0.0.213, and Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler before 19.0.0.213 allow attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-7625, CVE-2015-7626, CVE-2015-7627, CVE-2015-7630, and CVE-2015-7634.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/21/2022
Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR suffered from a critical memory corruption vulnerability that enabled remote code execution and denial of service conditions across multiple platforms and versions. This vulnerability existed in Flash Player versions prior to 18.0.0.252 and 19.x prior to 19.0.0.207 on Windows and OS X systems, and in Flash Player versions prior to 11.2.202.535 on Linux systems. Additionally, Adobe AIR versions before 19.0.0.213 and corresponding SDK versions were affected, representing a significant security gap in Adobe's multimedia platform that had been widely deployed across enterprise and consumer environments. The vulnerability stemmed from improper memory handling mechanisms within the Flash Player runtime environment, where attackers could manipulate memory structures through crafted malicious content to trigger buffer overflows or use-after-free conditions that would allow arbitrary code execution on vulnerable systems.
The technical flaw manifested as a memory corruption issue that occurred during the processing of specific multimedia content or script execution within the Flash Player environment. This type of vulnerability typically arises when applications fail to properly validate or manage memory allocations, leading to situations where attacker-controlled data can overwrite critical memory regions or corrupt heap structures. The vulnerability was classified as a memory corruption flaw that could be exploited through various attack vectors including web-based malicious content, embedded Flash objects, or specially crafted files that would trigger the faulty memory handling routines within the Adobe runtime. The affected systems were particularly vulnerable because Flash Player was commonly enabled by default in web browsers and applications, creating numerous attack surfaces for threat actors to exploit.
The operational impact of this vulnerability was severe and far-reaching, as it affected a widely deployed multimedia platform that was integral to web browsing experiences across numerous operating systems and applications. Organizations that relied on Flash Player for business-critical applications, webinars, training materials, and interactive content were exposed to potential compromise, as the vulnerability could be exploited through standard web browsing activities without requiring any special privileges or user interaction beyond visiting malicious websites. The memory corruption nature of the vulnerability meant that successful exploitation could result in complete system compromise, allowing attackers to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the Flash Player process, which typically ran with the same privileges as the user. This made the vulnerability particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where users might have administrative privileges or access to sensitive corporate resources.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability required immediate patching of all affected Adobe Flash Player and AIR installations across affected platforms, with administrators prioritizing deployment of the security updates released by Adobe. The recommended approach included updating to the patched versions of Flash Player and AIR, which contained memory safety improvements and enhanced input validation mechanisms that addressed the underlying memory corruption issues. Organizations should have also implemented network-based mitigations such as blocking Flash content at the firewall level, disabling Flash Player in web browsers, and employing application whitelisting solutions to prevent execution of untrusted Flash content. Additionally, security teams should have conducted comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify all systems running affected versions and implemented monitoring for potential exploitation attempts. This vulnerability highlighted the importance of maintaining up-to-date multimedia platforms and demonstrated how widely deployed components could become significant attack vectors when security flaws were present in the runtime environments. The issue also underscored the need for organizations to maintain robust patch management processes and to consider alternative approaches to multimedia delivery that do not rely on potentially vulnerable legacy technologies.