CVE-2010-3653: Adobe Shockwave Player Director module memory corruption via crafted rcsL chunk

Automated analysis

Generated by VULONE's analysis model from the NVD record, CISA KEV and EPSS data on 18 September 2026. Confidence: high.

high priorityThe vulnerability allows remote code execution, has public exploits, and was exploited in the wild, but requires user interaction and affects an older, less prevalent product.

What it is

Adobe Shockwave Player before 11.5.9.615 contains a memory corruption flaw in the Director module (dirapi.dll). A crafted Director movie with a malicious rcsL chunk can corrupt memory, allowing remote code execution or denial of service. The vulnerability was exploited in the wild in October 2010.

Impact

An attacker can execute arbitrary code in the context of the user running Shockwave Player, or crash the application. Successful exploitation could lead to full system compromise.

Attack surface

The flaw is reached by loading a malicious Director movie, typically delivered via a web page or file. No authentication is required, but some user interaction (e.g., visiting a page or opening a file) is needed to trigger the vulnerable component.

Exploitation

Exploits are publicly available (Exploit-DB, SecurityFocus) and the vulnerability was exploited in the wild in October 2010. It is not listed in CISA KEV, but EPSS indicates a high probability of exploitation activity.

What to do

• Update Adobe Shockwave Player to version 11.5.9.615 or later immediately.
• If patching is not possible, disable or remove the Shockwave Player browser plugin.
• Restrict the ability to load untrusted Director movies from the internet or email.
• Apply network filtering to block known malicious Shockwave content where feasible.

Detection

• Monitor for processes loading dirapi.dll and subsequently spawning unusual child processes or making network connections.
• Inspect web proxy or email logs for Shockwave (.dir, .dcr) files from untrusted sources.
• Use endpoint detection to flag crashes in dirapi.dll or Shockwave Player with memory corruption indicators.
• Search for known exploit signatures or shellcode patterns associated with the rcsL chunk.

This assessment is produced automatically and is not human-reviewed. Verify against the vendor advisory before acting on it.