CVE-2015-8459 in Flash Player
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Flash Player before 18.0.0.324 and 19.x and 20.x before 20.0.0.267 on Windows and OS X and before 11.2.202.559 on Linux, Adobe AIR before 20.0.0.233, Adobe AIR SDK before 20.0.0.233, and Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler before 20.0.0.233 allow attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-8460, CVE-2015-8636, and CVE-2015-8645.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/01/2022
Adobe Flash Player and AIR runtime environments contained a critical memory corruption vulnerability that enabled remote code execution attacks through unspecified attack vectors. This vulnerability affected multiple versions across different operating systems and development tools, with specific affected versions including Flash Player before 18.0.0.324 and 19.x and 20.x before 20.0.0.267 on Windows and OS X, and before 11.2.202.559 on Linux, along with Adobe AIR versions before 20.0.0.233 and corresponding SDK versions. The flaw represented a memory corruption issue that could be exploited by attackers to execute arbitrary code on vulnerable systems or cause denial of service conditions, making it particularly dangerous for enterprise environments where Flash Player was widely deployed. The vulnerability demonstrated characteristics consistent with heap-based buffer overflow conditions that could be triggered through malformed multimedia content or malicious web pages, allowing attackers to manipulate memory structures and potentially gain unauthorized system access. This issue required careful patch management across multiple platforms and development environments, as the vulnerability spanned across different Adobe products and their respective version timelines, creating complexity in remediation efforts for organizations with diverse software ecosystems. Security researchers identified this vulnerability as part of a broader pattern of memory safety issues in Adobe's runtime environments, with the specific flaw differing from other related vulnerabilities such as CVE-2015-8460, CVE-2015-8636, and CVE-2015-8645 that were also present in the same timeframe. The technical exploitation of this vulnerability typically involved crafting malicious content that would trigger the memory corruption during normal Flash Player execution, potentially leading to complete system compromise. Organizations needed to implement immediate patching strategies across all affected platforms, including Windows, OS X, and Linux environments, while also addressing the corresponding Adobe AIR SDK and compiler versions that could be exploited through development environments. The vulnerability highlighted the ongoing security challenges associated with legacy multimedia runtime environments and underscored the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches across all Adobe product lines. From a threat modeling perspective, this vulnerability aligned with attack patterns documented in the mitre attack framework where adversaries leverage software vulnerabilities to establish persistent access or execute malicious code. The impact extended beyond individual user systems to enterprise networks where Flash Player remained a common component in web browsers and applications, creating potential for widespread compromise. Organizations implementing security controls needed to consider both the immediate patching requirements and long-term migration strategies away from Flash-based technologies due to the prevalence of such vulnerabilities. The vulnerability also demonstrated the importance of proper input validation and memory management practices in runtime environments, as the flaw originated from inadequate bounds checking during multimedia content processing. Security professionals recommended immediate remediation actions including patch deployment, network segmentation, and monitoring for exploitation attempts, while also preparing for potential lateral movement attacks that could result from successful exploitation of this vulnerability. The incident highlighted the necessity of comprehensive vulnerability management programs that address not only the primary affected software but also related development tools and runtime environments that could be leveraged by attackers.