Software Engineering Institute

Adobe Flash 9 and later versions support ActionScript 3, which is executed by the ActionScript Virtual Machine 2 (AVM2). The AVM2 takes ActionScript Bytecode (ABC) as input, and it is just-in-time (JIT) compiled into processor-specific instructions. Certain malformed use of the AVM2 newfunction instruction can result in an exploitable crash. This vulnerability affects Flash Player 9 through 10.0.45.2. Adobe Reader 9, Acrobat 9, and other Adobe products (including Photoshop CS3, PhotoShop Lightroom, Freehand MX, Fireworks) provide Flash support independent of Flash Player.

This vulnerability is being exploited in the wild. Exploit code for this vulnerability is publicly available.

By convincing a user to view a specially crafted HTML document (e.g., a web page or an HTML email message or attachment), PDF file, Microsoft Office document, or any other document that supports embedded SWF content, an attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code.

Apply an update

This vulnerability is addressed in Flash 10.1. Please see Adobe Security Bulletin APSB10-14 for more details.

Disable Flash in your web browser

Disable Flash or selectively enable Flash content as described in Securing Your Web Browser.

Disable Flash and 3D & Multimedia support in Adobe Reader 9

Flash and 3D & Multmedia support are implemented as plug-in libraries in Adobe Reader. Disabling Flash in Adobe Reader will only mitigate attacks using an SWF embedded in a PDF file. Disabling 3D & Multimedia support does not directly address the vulnerability, but it does provide additional mitigation and results in a more user-friendly error message instead of a crash.

To disable Flash and 3D & Multimedia support in Adobe Reader 9 on Microsoft Windows, delete or rename these files:

"%ProgramFiles%\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Reader\authplay.dll"
"%ProgramFiles%\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Reader\rt3d.dll"

For Apple Mac OS X, delete or rename these files:

"/Applications/Adobe Reader 9/Adobe Reader.app/Contents/Frameworks/AuthPlayLib.bundle"
"/Applications/Adobe Reader 9/Adobe Reader.app/Contents/Frameworks/Adobe3D.framework"
For GNU/Linux, delete or rename these files (locations may vary among distributions):

"/opt/Adobe/Reader9/Reader/intellinux/lib/libauthplay.so"
"/opt/Adobe/Reader9/Reader/intellinux/lib/librt3d.so"

File locations may be different for Adobe Acrobat or other Adobe products that include Flash and 3D & Multimedia support. Disabling these plug-ins will reduce functionality and will not protect against SWF files hosted on websites. Depending on the update schedule for products other than Flash Player, consider leaving Flash and 3D & Multimedia support disabled unless they are absolutely required.

Remove Flash

Adobe has provided a TechNote with utilities for uninstalling the Flash Player plug-in and ActiveX control on Windows and Mac OS X systems. Removing these components can mitigate the web browser attack vector for this vulnerability. Note that this will not remove the instances of Flash Player that is installed with Adobe Reader 9 or other Adobe products.

Enable DEP in Microsoft Windows

Consider enabling Data Execution Prevention (DEP) in supported versions of Windows. DEP should not be treated as a complete workaround, but it can mitigate the execution of attacker-supplied code in some cases. Microsoft has published detailed technical information about DEP in Security Research & Defense blog posts "Understanding DEP as a mitigation technology" part 1 and part 2. Use of DEP should be considered in conjunction with the application of patches or other mitigations described in this document.

Disable JavaScript in Adobe Reader and Acrobat

Disabling JavaScript can help mitigate against some techniques that use Adobe Reader as an attack vector.

To disable JavaScript in Adobe Reader:

1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader.
2. Open the Edit menu.
3. Choose the Preferences... option.
4. Choose the JavaScript section.
5. Uncheck the Enable Acrobat JavaScript checkbox.

1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader.
2. Open the Edit menu.
3. Choose the Preferences... option.
4. Choose the Internet section.
5. Uncheck the Display PDF in browser checkbox.