Secunia Research: Microsoft Windows Flash Player Movie Unloading Vulnerability

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                 Secunia Research 12/01/2010

• Microsoft Windows Flash Player Movie Unloading Vulnerability -

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Table of Contents

Affected Software…1
Severity…2
Description of Vulnerability…3
Solution…4
Time Table…5
Credits…6
References…7
About Secunia…8
Verification…9

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1) Affected Software

• Windows XP SP2 (bundled Flash Player 6.0.79).

NOTE: Other versions may also be affected.

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2) Severity

Rating: Highly critical
Impact: System compromise
Where: Remote

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3) Description of Vulnerability

Secunia Research has discovered a vulnerability in Flash Player
distributed with certain versions of Windows XP, which can be
exploited by malicious people to compromise a user's system.

The vulnerability is caused by a use-after-free error in the bundled
version of Flash Player when unloading Flash objects while these are
still being accessed using script code. This can be exploited to
corrupt memory via a specially crafted web page.

Successful exploitation allows execution of arbitrary code.

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4) Solution

Install the latest version of Adobe Flash Player.

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5) Time Table

18/10/2007 - Vendor notified.
18/10/2007 - Vendor response.
01/11/2007 - Microsoft states that the vulnerability is fixed by the
patches released in MS06-069.
02/11/2007 - Vendor informed that MS06-069 does not fix the
vulnerability, which was tested against a fully patched
system.
23/11/2007 - Vendor contacted (status update requested).
23/01/2008 - Vendor contacted (status update requested again).
05/02/2008 - Vendor informed that due to no response to status
requests an advisory will be published in two weeks).
05/02/2008 - Vendor response (vulnerability successfully reproduced
and asks for coordinated disclosure).
07/02/2008 - Vendor informed that disclosure will be coordinated.
18/03/2008 - Vendor provides status update.
02/05/2008 - Vendor provides status update (waiting for Adobe).
15/08/2008 - Status update requested.
19/08/2008 - Vendor provides status update (coordinating with Adobe).
15/06/2009 - Status update requested.
22/06/2009 - Vendor response (working on a solution).
20/11/2009 - Status update requested. Vendor also informed that
disclosure of the advisory won't be postponed for much
longer.
30/11/2009 - Status update requested again.
30/11/2009 - Vendor response (coordinating with Adobe on recommending
users to install the latest version of Adobe Flash Player
instead).
07/12/2009 - Vendor informed that Secunia has scheduled the advisory
for disclosure on 12th January 2010.
15/12/2009 - Vendor response (more time requested along with draft of
Secunia advisory).
21/12/2009 - Draft of Secunia Research advisory sent to the vendor.
Vendor also informed that disclosure won't be postponed.
07/01/2010 - Vendor informs that an advisory will be released on 12th
January 2010 at the same time as the Secunia advisory is
published.
12/01/2010 - Public disclosure.

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6) Credits

Discovered by Carsten Eiram and Dyon Balding, Secunia Research.

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7) References

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) project has not
currently assigned a CVE identifier for the vulnerability.

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8) About Secunia

Secunia offers vulnerability management solutions to corporate
customers with verified and reliable vulnerability intelligence
relevant to their specific system configuration:

http://secunia.com/advisories/business_solutions/

Secunia also provides a publicly accessible and comprehensive advisory
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http://secunia.com/advisories/

Secunia believes that it is important to support the community and to
do active vulnerability research in order to aid improving the
security and reliability of software in general:

http://secunia.com/secunia_research/

Secunia regularly hires new skilled team members. Check the URL below
to see currently vacant positions:

http://secunia.com/corporate/jobs/

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http://secunia.com/advisories/mailing_lists/

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9) Verification

Please verify this advisory by visiting the Secunia website:
http://secunia.com/secunia_research/2007-77/

Complete list of vulnerability reports published by Secunia Research:
http://secunia.com/secunia_research/

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