CVE-2015-8460 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-2015-8459, 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 suffered from a critical memory corruption vulnerability that enabled remote code execution and denial of service attacks. This vulnerability affected multiple product versions across different operating systems including Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms. The flaw manifested through unspecified attack vectors that differed from other contemporaneous vulnerabilities in the same vulnerability family. The memory corruption issue occurred within the Flash Player runtime engine, specifically in how it processed certain multimedia content and handled memory allocation during object manipulation. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability by crafting malicious Flash content that would trigger the memory corruption when executed by the affected software. The exploitation process typically involved delivering malicious SWF files through web browsers or other Flash-enabled applications, where the vulnerable runtime would parse and execute the crafted content leading to arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability was particularly dangerous because it allowed attackers to bypass traditional security controls and execute malicious payloads directly within the user's browser context. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-125, which describes out-of-bounds read conditions, and CWE-787, which covers out-of-bounds write conditions, both of which are common in memory corruption flaws. The attack surface was extensive given Flash Player's widespread adoption across enterprise and consumer environments, making this vulnerability a prime target for exploit development. From an operational perspective, the impact was severe as organizations faced potential data breaches, system compromises, and service disruptions. The vulnerability's presence in multiple product versions across different platforms meant that comprehensive patch management became critical. Security teams had to coordinate across various software ecosystems to ensure complete remediation. The vulnerability also demonstrated the challenges of maintaining secure legacy software environments where patch deployment could be complex and time-consuming. Organizations implementing defense-in-depth strategies needed to consider browser sandboxing, content filtering, and network monitoring to mitigate exposure while patches were being deployed. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under the T1059.007 technique, which involves the use of scripting languages for execution, and T1203, which covers exploitation for privilege escalation. The remediation approach required immediate patching of all affected versions, with particular attention to Adobe AIR and SDK components that shared the same underlying memory management flaws. The vulnerability highlighted the importance of keeping legacy multimedia frameworks updated and the risks associated with running outdated software in enterprise environments. Security professionals needed to implement proactive monitoring for exploitation attempts and establish incident response procedures for handling potential compromise scenarios. The widespread nature of this vulnerability underscored the need for robust software inventory management and continuous vulnerability assessment processes to identify and remediate similar issues before they could be exploited by malicious actors.