Adobe Flash and AIR Vulnerabilities

Systems Affected

Adobe Flash Player 10.0.45.2 and earlier 10.x versions
Adobe Flash Player 9.0.262 and earlier 9.x versions
Adobe AIR 1.5.3.9130 and earlier versions

Other Adobe products that support Flash may also be vulnerable.

Overview

According to Adobe Security Bulletin APSB10-14, there are vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash and AIR. These vulnerabilities affect Flash Player, AIR, and possibly other products that support Flash. A remote attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities to execute arbitrary code.

Adobe Security Bulletin APSB10-14 describes vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash that affects Flash Player and AIR. It may also affect other products that independently support Flash, such as Adobe Reader, Acrobat, Photoshop, Photoshop Lightroom, Freehand MX, and Fireworks.

An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by convincing a user to open specially crafted Flash content. Flash content is commonly hosted on a web page, but it can also be embedded in a PDF and other documents or provided as a stand-alone file.

One of these vulnerabilities, CVE-2010-1297, is being exploited against Flash Player, Adobe Reader, and Acrobat. Additional information about CVE-2010-1297 is available in US-CERT Technical Cyber Security Alert TA10-159A and US-CERT Vulnerability Note VU#486225.

Impact

If a user opens specially crafted Flash content, a remote attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code.

Solution

Update Flash and AIR

Adobe Security Bulletin APSB10-14 recommends updating to Flash Player 10.1.53.64 or 9.0.277.0 and AIR to 2.0.2.12610. This will update the Flash web browser plug-in and ActiveX control and AIR, but will not update Flash support in Adobe Reader, Acrobat, or other products.

To reduce your exposure to these and other Flash vulnerabilities, consider the following mitigation technique.

Disable Flash in your web browser

Uninstall Flash or restrict which sites are allowed to run Flash. To the extent possible, only run trusted Flash content on trusted domains. For more information, see Securing Your Web Browser.