CVE-2008-4546

Vulnerability

Adobe Flash Player before 9.0.277.0 and 10.x before 10.1.53.64, and Adobe AIR before 2.0.2.12610, are vulnerable to a NULL pointer dereference when a remote web server returns a different HTTP response upon a subsequent request, such as providing two SWF files with different version numbers [4]. This condition triggers a denial of service via browser crash.

Exploitation

An attacker-controlled web server sends an initial response with a SWF file of a certain version, and then a second response with a different SWF version. When the Flash Player processes the differing responses, a NULL pointer dereference occurs, crashing the browser [4]. No authentication or user interaction beyond loading the SWF is required.

Impact

Successful exploitation results in a denial of service, causing the browser to crash. This is a CIA impact limited to availability, with no code execution or data compromise described [4].

Mitigation

Update to Adobe Flash Player 9.0.277.0 or 10.1.53.64, or Adobe AIR 2.0.2.12610 as recommended in Adobe Security Bulletin APSB10-14 [4]. No workarounds are available; disabling Flash is an alternative if updating is not possible.