CVE-2022-38425 in Adobe
Summary
by MITRE • 09/19/2022
Adobe Bridge version 12.0.2 (and earlier) and 11.1.3 (and earlier) are affected by a Use After Free vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to bypass mitigations such as ASLR. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/18/2022
Adobe Bridge versions 12.0.2 and earlier as well as 11.1.3 and earlier contain a critical use after free vulnerability that represents a significant security risk to affected systems. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-416 category of Use After Free conditions, where memory that has been freed is accessed again by the application. The flaw occurs within the software's handling of specific file formats or data structures that trigger improper memory management during processing. When an attacker crafts a malicious file designed to exploit this vulnerability, the application attempts to access memory that has already been deallocated, creating an opportunity for arbitrary code execution or information disclosure.
The security implications of this vulnerability extend beyond simple memory corruption, as it can be leveraged to bypass critical operating system security mitigations such as Address Space Layout Randomization. ASLR is a fundamental protection mechanism that randomizes memory addresses to prevent attackers from predicting where specific code or data resides in memory. When an attacker successfully exploits this use after free vulnerability, they can potentially extract memory addresses or other sensitive information that reveals the memory layout, effectively undermining ASLR protections. This memory disclosure capability significantly increases the attacker's ability to perform more sophisticated exploitation techniques including return-oriented programming or jump-oriented programming attacks.
The exploitation of this vulnerability requires user interaction, specifically that a victim must open a malicious file within Adobe Bridge. This user interaction requirement means that the attack vector is primarily through social engineering or phishing campaigns where users are tricked into opening specially crafted files. The malicious file could be embedded in email attachments, downloaded from compromised websites, or distributed through other means that would lead to user execution. The attack scenario typically involves the user opening what appears to be a legitimate file, triggering the vulnerable code path within Bridge, and subsequently allowing the attacker to execute arbitrary code or extract sensitive information from the system.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations to protect against this vulnerability by updating to the latest versions of Adobe Bridge where the issue has been patched. Adobe has released security updates that address this specific use after free vulnerability through proper memory management corrections and code modifications that prevent the freed memory from being accessed again. System administrators should also consider implementing additional protective measures such as restricting user access to potentially malicious file types, deploying application whitelisting solutions, and monitoring for suspicious file opening activities within the Bridge application. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper memory management practices in software development and highlights how seemingly simple memory handling errors can have significant security implications. Organizations should also consider implementing security awareness training to help users recognize potential social engineering attempts that could lead to exploitation of this vulnerability through user interaction requirements.
This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for command and script interpreter, as successful exploitation could lead to command execution, and T1068 for exploit for privilege escalation, since the memory disclosure capabilities could be used to bypass security protections. The use after free vulnerability represents a fundamental flaw in memory management that can be classified as a software defect under the CWE-416 category, making it a prime target for attackers seeking to leverage memory corruption vulnerabilities for system compromise. The requirement for user interaction places this vulnerability in the context of user awareness and social engineering attacks, which are commonly addressed through security training and email filtering solutions.