Shockwave Update Corrects Five Buffer Overflows

Summary:

• This vulnerability affects: Adobe Shockwave Player 11.6.7.637 and earlier, running on Windows and Macintosh computers
• How an attacker exploits it: By enticing your users into visiting a website containing a malicious Shockwave content
• Impact: An attacker can execute code on your computer, potentially gaining control of it
• What to do: If you allow the use of Shockwave in your network, you should download and deploy the latest version (11.6.8.638) of Adobe Shockwave Player as soon as possible.

Exposure:

Adobe Shockwave Player displays interactive, animated web content and movies called Shockwave. According to Adobe, the Shockwave Player is installed on hundreds of millions of PCs.

In a security bulletin released this week, Adobe warned of six vulnerabilities that affect Adobe Shockwave Player 11.6.7.637 for Windows and Macintosh (as well as all earlier versions). Adobe’s bulletin doesn’t describe the flaws in much technical detail, though it does say that five of them are buffer overflow vulnerabilities, and the last is another memory related flaw. All six of the security flaws have the same impact. If an attacker can entice one of your users into visiting a website containing some sort of malicious Shockwave content, he could exploit any of these vulnerabilities to execute code on that user’s computer, with that user’s privileges. If your Windows users have local administrator privileges, an attacker could exploit this flaw to gain full control of their PC.

If you use Adobe Shockwave in your network, we recommend you download and deploy the latest version at your earliest convenience.

Solution Path

Adobe has released Shockwave Player version 11.6.8.638 to fix these security flaws. If you use Adobe Shockwave in your network, we recommend you download and deploy the updated player as soon as possible. You can get it from the link below.

For All WatchGuard Users:

If you choose, you can configure the HTTP proxy on your XTM appliance to block Shockwave content. Keep in mind, doing so blocks all Shockwave content, whether legitimate or malicious.

Our proxies offer many ways for you to block files and content, including by file extension,  MIME type, or by using very specific hexidecimal patterns found in the body of a message – a technique sometimes referred to as Magic Byte detection. Below I list the various ways you can identify Shockwave files:

File Extension:

• .swf –  Adobe Shockwave files

MIME types:

• application/x-shockwave-flash
• application/x-shockwave-flash2-preview
• application/futuresplash
• image/vnd.rn-realflash

FILExt.com reported Magic Byte Pattern:

• Hex: 46 57 53

(We believe this pattern is too short, thus prone to false positives. We don’t recommend you use it) 

If you decide you want to block Shockwave files, the links below contain instructions that will help you configure your Firebox proxy’s content blocking features using the file and MIME information listed above.

• XTM Appliance with WSM 11.x
  • How do I block files with the FTP proxy?
  • How do I block files with the HTTP proxy?
  • How do I block files with the POP3 proxy?
  • How do I block files with the SMTP Proxy?

• Firebox X Edge running 10.x
  • How do I block files with the FTP proxy?
  • How do I block files with the HTTP proxy?
  • How do I block files with the POP3 proxy?
  • How do I block files with the SMTP proxy

• Firebox X Core and X Peak running Fireware 10.x
  • How do I block files with the FTP proxy?
  • How do I block files with the HTTP proxy?
  • How do I block files with the POP3 proxy?
  • How do I block files with the SMTP proxy?

Status:

Adobe has released a Shockwave Player update to fix these vulnerabilities.

References:

• October 2012 Adobe Shockwave Player Security Bulletin

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