CVE-2016-4149 in Flash Player
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player 21.0.0.242 and earlier, as used in the Adobe Flash libraries in Microsoft Internet Explorer 10 and 11 and Microsoft Edge, has unknown impact and attack vectors, a different vulnerability than other CVEs listed in MS16-083.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/05/2024
Adobe Flash Player versions 21.0.0.242 and earlier contained a critical unspecified vulnerability that affected Microsoft Internet Explorer 10 and 11 as well as Microsoft Edge browsers. This vulnerability represented a distinct security flaw separate from other issues addressed in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS16-083, indicating that attackers could exploit a unique code execution vector within the Flash Player runtime environment. The unspecified nature of the vulnerability meant that security researchers and attackers had limited information about the specific technical implementation flaw that enabled exploitation. This type of vulnerability typically resides in the memory management or code parsing mechanisms of the Flash Player runtime, potentially allowing remote code execution when users visited malicious websites or opened specially crafted Flash content. The impact of such vulnerabilities can be severe as Flash Player was widely deployed across enterprise environments, making it an attractive target for attackers seeking to compromise user systems through browser-based attacks.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability likely involved memory corruption issues that could be triggered through malformed Flash content or malicious SWF files loaded within the browser context. Attackers could potentially leverage this flaw to execute arbitrary code on vulnerable systems with the privileges of the user running the browser. The vulnerability affected multiple browser versions and operating systems where Flash Player was integrated, including older versions of Windows that still supported Internet Explorer 10 and 11. According to industry standards, such vulnerabilities often map to CWE-119 or CWE-125 memory safety issues, where insufficient bounds checking or improper memory handling allows attackers to manipulate program execution flow. The attack vectors typically involved social engineering techniques where users would be诱导 to visit compromised websites or download malicious content that would automatically trigger the exploit within the Flash Player runtime.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability created significant risk for organizations that had not yet migrated away from older Flash Player versions or had not applied the necessary security patches. The fact that it affected both Internet Explorer and Edge browsers meant that organizations needed to consider multiple attack surfaces when assessing their security posture. The unspecified nature of the vulnerability made it particularly dangerous as defenders could not easily determine the exact attack surface or implement specific mitigations without complete information about the technical flaw. Organizations using legacy systems with older Flash Player installations faced heightened risk of successful exploitation, especially in environments where users had administrative privileges or where security controls were not properly configured. The vulnerability also highlighted the broader security challenges associated with deprecated software components and the importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches across all browser and runtime environments.
Security mitigation strategies for this vulnerability centered on immediate patching of Adobe Flash Player installations, with Microsoft releasing security updates to address the issue in affected browser versions. Organizations should have implemented browser hardening measures including disabling Flash Player in Internet Explorer and Edge, using sandboxing techniques, and deploying additional security controls such as application whitelisting. Network-based protections could include filtering Flash content at the perimeter and implementing content security policies that restricted Flash execution. The ATT&CK framework would categorize this vulnerability under techniques involving exploitation of software vulnerabilities, specifically targeting browser-based attack surfaces. Organizations needed to establish comprehensive patch management processes to ensure all Flash Player installations were updated promptly, while also considering the long-term strategy of migrating away from Flash Player due to its inherent security risks and the discontinuation of the platform by Adobe.