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Flash PlayerApplication · Gnu

CVE-2007-2500

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2007-05-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 0.7.2 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
server/parser/sprite_definition.cpp in GNU Gnash (aka GNU Flash Player) 0.7.2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a large number of SHOWFRAME elements within a DEFINESPRITE element, which triggers memory corruption and enables the attacker to call free with an arbitrary address, probably resultant from a buffer overflow.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Buffer overflow in GNU Gnash's SWF parser (sprite_definition.cpp) when processing malformed DEFINESPRITE elements containing an excessive number of SHOWFRAME elements. The overflow allows attackers to control memory allocation by passing arbitrary addresses to the free() function, enabling arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpgrade GNU Gnash to a patched version; until then, disable processing of untrusted SWF content. Since Gnash is deprecated, migrate away from Flash playback entirely.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Flash PlayerApplication
Affected:<= 0.7.2

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check if Gnash is installed
    Run 'which gnash' or 'dpkg -l | grep gnash' (Debian) / 'rpm -qa | grep gnash' (RHEL) to locate the Gnash executable
    Affected if Gnash is present on the system
  2. Identify the installed Gnash version
    Run 'gnash --version' or check the package version with your package manager (dpkg/rpm)
    Affected if The version number returned is 0.7.2 or lower
  3. Verify the SWF parsing component is present
    Check for the presence of libgnash* shared libraries: 'ldd $(which gnash)' or look for /usr/lib/gnash/ directory
    Affected if The Gnash SWF parsing libraries are installed and loadable
  4. Determine if Gnash is configured to process untrusted content
    Inspect Gnash configuration files in ~/.gnashrc or /etc/gnashrc for security-related settings, or check if Gnash is used by browsers/plugins
    Affected if Gnash is enabled to handle SWF content from untrusted sources
  5. Confirm the vulnerable parser code exists
    Check if sprite_definition.cpp was part of the build: look for gnash binary or libgnash-swf.so in the installation
    Affected if The DEFINESPRITE parsing module (sprite_definition) is present in the installed build

A system is affected if Gnash version 0.7.2 or lower is installed and configured to parse untrusted SWF files, as the buffer overflow in the sprite_definition.cpp parser can be triggered by malformed DEFINESPRITE elements.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 0.7.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GNU Gnash to a patched version; until then, disable processing of untrusted SWF content. Since Gnash is deprecated, migrate away from Flash playback entirely.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

GNU Gnash 0.7.3 or later fixed release

  1. 1. Identify all systems running GNU Gnash (GNU Flash Player) version 0.7.2 or earlier
  2. 2. Verify the exact version currently installed using: gnash --version or rpm -qa | grep gnash
  3. 3. Obtain the fixed version of GNU Gnash from the official GNU project repository at savannah.gnu.org/projects/gnash
  4. 4. Backup any custom Gnash configuration files (~/.gnash/ or /etc/gnash/)
  5. 5. Upgrade GNU Gnash to the fixed release version (0.7.3 or later) using the system's package manager or compiling from source
  6. 6. Verify the new version is installed: gnash --version
  7. 7. Test with a sample SWF file to ensure playback functionality works correctly
Caveat Upgrading Gnash may introduce changes to configuration defaults or remove support for older Flash features; test thoroughly in a non-production environment first

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Flash Player Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2007-2500 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data