CVE-2018-4933 in Flash Player
Summary
by MITRE • 01/26/2023
Adobe Flash Player versions 29.0.0.113 and earlier have an exploitable out-of-bounds read vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to information disclosure.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/14/2023
Adobe Flash Player contained a critical out-of-bounds read vulnerability in version 29.0.0.113 and earlier releases that presented significant security risks to affected systems. This vulnerability stems from improper input validation within the player's memory management routines, specifically when processing certain multimedia content. The flaw allows attackers to read data from memory locations that should not be accessible, potentially exposing sensitive information stored in adjacent memory regions. Such out-of-bounds read conditions typically occur when the application fails to properly bounds-check array indices or buffer sizes before accessing memory locations, creating opportunities for information leakage.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the Flash Player's handling of malformed multimedia data structures that trigger memory access violations. When processing specially crafted content, the player's parser does not adequately validate array bounds, leading to reads beyond allocated memory segments. This type of vulnerability maps directly to CWE-125, which describes out-of-bounds read conditions in software implementations. The flaw manifests when the player attempts to access memory locations that fall outside the intended buffer boundaries, potentially exposing stack contents, heap data, or other sensitive information stored in adjacent memory locations.
From an operational perspective, successful exploitation of this vulnerability could result in significant information disclosure attacks that compromise system security. Attackers could leverage this flaw to extract sensitive data such as cryptographic keys, user credentials, application memory contents, or other confidential information stored in memory. The impact extends beyond simple data leakage since this information could be used to facilitate further attacks or compromise additional system components. The vulnerability's exploitation potential makes it particularly dangerous in environments where Flash Player remains active, as it provides attackers with opportunities to gather intelligence about running processes and system configurations.
Security practitioners should implement immediate mitigations including mandatory updates to Adobe Flash Player versions beyond 29.0.0.113, which contain patches addressing this specific out-of-bounds read condition. Organizations should also consider implementing network segmentation and access controls to limit Flash Player execution to trusted environments only. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under initial access and credential access tactics, as the information disclosure could enable attackers to gather intelligence for more sophisticated attacks. Additionally, monitoring for unusual network traffic patterns or memory access anomalies could help detect exploitation attempts. System administrators should also ensure that Flash Player is not automatically executed in web browsers and consider implementing content security policies that restrict Flash content execution to prevent automatic exploitation of this vulnerability.