CVE-2016-0980 in Flash Player
Summary
by MITRE
Adobe Flash Player before 18.0.0.329 and 19.x and 20.x before 20.0.0.306 on Windows and OS X and before 11.2.202.569 on Linux, Adobe AIR before 20.0.0.260, Adobe AIR SDK before 20.0.0.260, and Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler before 20.0.0.260 allow attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2016-0964, CVE-2016-0965, CVE-2016-0966, CVE-2016-0967, CVE-2016-0968, CVE-2016-0969, CVE-2016-0970, CVE-2016-0972, CVE-2016-0976, CVE-2016-0977, CVE-2016-0978, CVE-2016-0979, and CVE-2016-0981.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/08/2022
Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR suffered from a critical memory corruption vulnerability that enabled remote code execution and denial of service attacks through unspecified attack vectors. This vulnerability affected multiple product versions across different operating systems including Windows, OS X, and Linux platforms. The flaw existed in the way these applications handled certain memory operations, creating opportunities for attackers to manipulate memory structures and execute malicious code remotely. The vulnerability was distinct from several other related issues that had been previously identified, indicating a separate code path or implementation flaw within the software components. The memory corruption aspect of this vulnerability aligns with common attack patterns targeting software memory management, where improper handling of memory allocation, deallocation, or access can lead to exploitable conditions. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability to gain arbitrary code execution privileges on affected systems, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The impact was particularly severe given Flash Player's widespread deployment across enterprise and consumer environments, making it an attractive target for malicious actors seeking to exploit the vulnerability at scale. The vulnerability affected not only the standalone Flash Player application but also the Adobe AIR runtime environment and its associated development tools, expanding the potential attack surface significantly.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involved memory corruption mechanisms that allowed attackers to manipulate the application's memory space through carefully crafted input or malformed content. This type of vulnerability typically occurs when applications fail to properly validate input data or when memory management functions contain flaws that can be exploited through buffer overflows, use-after-free conditions, or other memory-related issues. The specific attack vectors were not fully disclosed in the CVE description, but they likely involved manipulation of Flash content or AIR applications to trigger the memory corruption state. Such vulnerabilities often map to common CWE categories including CWE-125 for out-of-bounds read conditions and CWE-787 for out-of-bounds write operations, which are frequently exploited in memory corruption attacks. The vulnerability's presence in multiple versions across different platforms indicates a fundamental flaw in the codebase rather than an isolated incident, suggesting that the root cause was likely in core memory management components shared across the affected products. The fact that this vulnerability was separate from other related CVEs in the same year suggests that it was not part of a broader class of issues affecting the same code paths, but rather a distinct implementation flaw that required specific exploitation techniques.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extended far beyond simple denial of service conditions, as it provided attackers with the capability to execute arbitrary code on affected systems. This capability transforms what might initially appear as a denial of service vulnerability into a critical security threat that could lead to complete system compromise. Organizations running affected versions of Adobe Flash Player or AIR applications were exposed to potential data breaches, system takeovers, and persistent threat vectors that could be leveraged for further attacks within their networks. The widespread adoption of Flash Player in web browsers and enterprise applications meant that this vulnerability could be exploited through standard web browsing activities, making it particularly dangerous for organizations that had not yet transitioned away from Flash-based content. The vulnerability's presence in Adobe AIR and its development tools also meant that developers working with these platforms were at risk, potentially compromising development environments and leading to supply chain attacks. The memory corruption nature of the vulnerability made it particularly challenging to detect and mitigate, as the effects might not be immediately apparent and could manifest in various ways depending on the specific memory layout and system configuration. Organizations that had not implemented proper security monitoring or application whitelisting were particularly vulnerable to exploitation attempts that could go unnoticed for extended periods.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability required immediate action from organizations to update their systems to patched versions of Adobe Flash Player and AIR runtime environments. The recommended approach involved deploying the vendor-provided security patches that addressed the specific memory corruption flaws identified in the affected versions. Organizations should have prioritized patching across all affected platforms including Windows, OS X, and Linux systems, as well as updating Adobe AIR SDK and compiler tools to prevent development environment compromise. Additional defensive measures included implementing web application firewalls to filter potentially malicious Flash content, disabling Flash Player in web browsers where possible, and monitoring network traffic for exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's characteristics made it particularly suitable for exploit kits and automated attack frameworks that could scan for vulnerable systems and deploy exploit code without requiring extensive manual intervention. Security teams should have implemented comprehensive monitoring to detect unusual memory allocation patterns or process behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability also highlighted the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches across all software components, particularly those with wide deployment and complex memory management requirements. Organizations with legacy systems that could not immediately be updated should have considered implementing network segmentation and application isolation techniques to limit the potential impact of successful exploitation attempts. The incident underscored the need for regular vulnerability assessments and security testing of widely deployed software components, as the memory corruption nature of the vulnerability could potentially be exploited in ways that were not initially anticipated by the software vendors.