CVE-2018-25377 Overview
CVE-2018-25377 is a buffer overflow vulnerability in Flash Slideshow Maker Professional 5.20. The flaw resides in the registration dialog reached through Help > Register. Attackers can paste a crafted payload into the Name and Code fields to overwrite the Structured Exception Handler (SEH). Successful exploitation yields arbitrary code execution under the privileges of the running process, which can be leveraged to spawn a reverse shell. The issue is tracked under CWE-120 and requires local access to the affected application.
Critical Impact
Local attackers can achieve arbitrary code execution with system-level privileges by abusing SEH overwrite in the registration dialog.
Affected Products
- Flash Slideshow Maker Professional 5.20
- Distributed via the Flash DVD Photo Slideshow vendor site
- Windows desktop builds of the affected version
Discovery Timeline
- 2026-05-25 - CVE-2018-25377 published to NVD
- 2026-05-26 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2018-25377
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability is a classic stack-based buffer overflow leading to SEH overwrite. Flash Slideshow Maker Professional 5.20 fails to validate the length of user-supplied input in the registration dialog. When the application copies the Name and Code field contents into a fixed-size stack buffer, oversized input overruns adjacent stack memory. This overrun overwrites the SEH record, including the pointer to the exception handler. When an exception is subsequently triggered, control transfers to an attacker-controlled address.
The attacker reaches the vulnerable code path through Help > Register. Because the input is pasted directly into the dialog, exploitation requires only local interaction with the application. The result is arbitrary code execution in the context of the running user.
Root Cause
The root cause is missing bounds checking on input copied from the registration dialog into a stack buffer. The application does not enforce maximum field length and does not use safe string-handling routines. This omission allows adjacent stack structures, including SEH records, to be overwritten by attacker-controlled bytes.
Attack Vector
Exploitation is local. An attacker crafts a payload containing shellcode, a POP POP RET gadget, and a short jump to redirect execution after the SEH overwrite. The payload is pasted into the Name and Code fields of the registration dialog. Triggering an exception causes the overwritten handler to execute the attacker's shellcode, commonly used to spawn a reverse shell. Public exploit details are available in Exploit-DB entry 45355 and the VulnCheck advisory.
Detection Methods for CVE-2018-25377
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected child processes spawned by the Flash Slideshow Maker Professional executable, especially cmd.exe or shell interpreters
- Outbound TCP connections from the slideshow application to non-vendor addresses, indicating a reverse shell
- Crash dumps referencing SEH overwrite patterns in the registration dialog
Detection Strategies
- Monitor process lineage for the slideshow application and alert on any process creation other than expected child processes
- Inspect endpoints for the presence of Flash Slideshow Maker Professional 5.20 binaries using software inventory tools
- Apply behavioral analytics to detect SEH-based exploitation patterns, such as execution flow originating from stack memory
Monitoring Recommendations
- Log and alert on network connections initiated by desktop media authoring tools that should not require outbound connectivity
- Track use of Help > Register workflows when the vendor is no longer maintaining the product
- Capture and review Windows Error Reporting (WER) crash data for the affected executable
How to Mitigate CVE-2018-25377
Immediate Actions Required
- Remove Flash Slideshow Maker Professional 5.20 from all endpoints where it is not business-critical
- Restrict local user privileges so that exploitation does not yield elevated access
- Block outbound network connections from the application at the host firewall
Patch Information
No vendor patch is referenced in the advisory data. Organizations should consult the VulnCheck advisory and the vendor site for any updates. If no fixed version is published, uninstall the affected software.
Workarounds
- Uninstall Flash Slideshow Maker Professional 5.20 until a fixed release is available
- Enforce application allowlisting to prevent the vulnerable binary from executing
- Enable Windows exploit protection features such as SEHOP and DEP system-wide to reduce SEH overwrite reliability
# Enable system-wide SEHOP and DEP via PowerShell (run as Administrator)
Set-ProcessMitigation -System -Enable SEHOP
Set-ProcessMitigation -System -Enable DEP
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
