CVE-2015-8409 in Flash Player
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Flash Player before 18.0.0.268 and 19.x and 20.x before 20.0.0.228 on Windows and OS X and before 11.2.202.554 on Linux, Adobe AIR before 20.0.0.204, Adobe AIR SDK before 20.0.0.204, and Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler before 20.0.0.204 allow attackers to bypass intended access restrictions via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-8440 and CVE-2015-8453.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/30/2022
Adobe Flash Player versions prior to 18.0.0.268 and 19.x and 20.x before 20.0.0.228 on Windows and OS X platforms, along with Adobe AIR versions before 20.0.0.204 and related SDK versions, contained a critical access restriction bypass vulnerability that allowed attackers to circumvent intended security controls. This vulnerability specifically affected the runtime environment's ability to properly enforce access controls for system resources and protected data, creating potential pathways for unauthorized operations within the execution context of Flash applications. The flaw manifested through unspecified attack vectors that differed from other related vulnerabilities such as CVE-2015-8440 and CVE-2015-8453, indicating a distinct technical implementation weakness in the access control mechanisms.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper enforcement of security boundaries within the Flash Player runtime environment. When applications executed within the Flash environment, the system failed to properly validate or restrict access to sensitive system resources, potentially allowing malicious actors to gain access to restricted functionalities or data that should have been protected by the runtime's security model. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 Access Control flaws, specifically targeting improper access control mechanisms that permit unauthorized access to protected resources. The issue represents a fundamental breakdown in the security architecture of the Flash runtime, where the intended security boundaries were not properly enforced during application execution.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it created opportunities for attackers to bypass multiple layers of security that were designed to protect users from malicious content. The vulnerability could potentially be exploited to access system files, manipulate protected data, or execute unauthorized operations within the Flash Player environment. Attackers could leverage this weakness to circumvent security controls that were intended to prevent access to sensitive system resources, potentially leading to complete system compromise or data exfiltration. The vulnerability's presence in multiple versions of both Flash Player and AIR applications meant that a wide range of systems could be affected, creating widespread exposure across different deployment scenarios and user environments.
Security mitigations for this vulnerability required immediate patching of affected versions to restore proper access control mechanisms within the Flash Player runtime. Organizations needed to implement comprehensive update management procedures to ensure all affected systems were patched promptly, as the vulnerability provided attackers with significant opportunities to exploit the access control bypass. The fix involved strengthening the runtime's validation processes and ensuring that security boundaries were properly enforced during application execution. Additionally, security administrators should have implemented network monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts and established process isolation measures to limit the potential impact of successful attacks. This vulnerability highlighted the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security controls in runtime environments and demonstrated how access control bypasses could provide attackers with extensive privileges within compromised systems, potentially enabling lateral movement and persistence within target environments. The vulnerability's classification aligns with ATT&CK techniques related to privilege escalation and access control bypass, emphasizing the need for robust runtime security controls in application environments.