CVE-2016-0953 in Photoshop CC
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Photoshop CC 2014 before 15.2.4, Photoshop CC 2015 before 16.1.2, and Bridge CC before 6.2 allow attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2016-0951 and CVE-2016-0952.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/03/2025
Adobe Photoshop and Bridge applications suffered from a critical memory corruption vulnerability that enabled remote code execution and denial of service conditions. This vulnerability affected multiple versions including Photoshop CC 2014 before 15.2.4, Photoshop CC 2015 before 16.1.2, and Bridge CC before 6.2. The flaw manifested through unspecified attack vectors that differed from the related CVE-2016-0951 and CVE-2016-0952 vulnerabilities, indicating a distinct exploitation pathway within the software's memory management subsystem. The vulnerability classified under CWE-125 as out-of-bounds read conditions and CWE-787 as out-of-bounds write conditions, highlighting the memory corruption nature of the flaw. Attackers could leverage this weakness to execute arbitrary code on affected systems, potentially gaining full control over user environments and enabling persistent access for further malicious activities. The memory corruption aspect of this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for command and scripting interpreter, where successful exploitation could lead to code injection and privilege escalation. The impact extended beyond simple denial of service to include complete system compromise, making this a high-severity vulnerability requiring immediate remediation. Organizations using these affected Adobe applications faced significant risk exposure, particularly in enterprise environments where Photoshop and Bridge are commonly used for creative workflows and asset management. The vulnerability's nature suggested that it could be triggered through malformed image files or other media content processed by these applications, making it particularly dangerous in environments where users might encounter untrusted media files. Security professionals needed to prioritize patching these applications to prevent exploitation, as the vulnerability could be leveraged for advanced persistent threats and lateral movement within compromised networks.
The technical implementation of this memory corruption vulnerability likely involved improper bounds checking within the image parsing or processing components of Adobe's software suite. When processing certain file formats or specific image data structures, the applications failed to properly validate memory access boundaries, leading to buffer overflows or underflows that could be manipulated by attackers. This type of vulnerability typically arises from insufficient input validation and inadequate memory management practices during the development lifecycle. The vulnerability's classification as a memory corruption issue indicates that attackers could potentially overwrite critical memory locations, including function pointers or return addresses, enabling arbitrary code execution. The fact that this vulnerability was separate from CVE-2016-0951 and CVE-2016-0952 suggests that the underlying flaw existed in different code paths or components within the software architecture. From a threat modeling perspective, this vulnerability represented a significant attack surface for adversaries seeking to compromise creative workstations and enterprise environments where these applications are prevalent. The ATT&CK framework classification for this vulnerability would likely include techniques related to exploitation of remote services and privilege escalation, as successful exploitation could provide attackers with elevated system privileges. Organizations needed to implement comprehensive patch management procedures to address this vulnerability, as the memory corruption nature made it particularly challenging to detect and prevent through traditional security controls. The remediation process required careful testing of patches to ensure compatibility with existing workflows, given the critical role these applications play in creative and professional environments.