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YARA · Signature Base (Florian Roth / Nextron)

SIGNATURE_BASE_Crime_Ole_Loadswf_Cve_2018_4878

Detects CVE-2018-4878

MalwareSignature Base (Florian Roth / Nextron)Detection Rule License 1.1Compiles with YARA-X
Author
Vitali Kremez, Flashpoint
Date
2026-01-01
Modified
2023-12-05
Score / Quality
75 / 85

What this rule detects

Detects CVE-2018-4878

It defines 7 patterns (7 text, 0 hex, 0 regex).

Summary generated from the rule's metadata and condition.

Rule source

crime-ole-loadswf-cve-2018-4878.yarDetection Rule License 1.1
rule SIGNATURE_BASE_Crime_Ole_Loadswf_Cve_2018_4878 : PURPORTED_NORTH_KOREAN_ACTORS CVE_2018_4878 FILE
{
	meta:
		description = "Detects CVE-2018-4878"
		author = "Vitali Kremez, Flashpoint"
		id = "44797bbc-693b-5fcb-a4a4-4ebf3f4da725"
		date = "2026-01-01"
		modified = "2023-12-05"
		reference = "hxxps://www[.]krcert[.]or[.kr/data/secNoticeView.do?bulletin_writing_sequence=26998"
		source_url = "https://github.com/Neo23x0/signature-base/blob/94a1c48d7ab499879287ff611dfe7f9c56376030/yara/crime_ole_loadswf_cve_2018_4878.yar#L2-L31"
		license_url = "https://github.com/Neo23x0/signature-base/blob/94a1c48d7ab499879287ff611dfe7f9c56376030/LICENSE"
		logic_hash = "716cad0c5a12cc360522e2649c7870a493bef4bec3d55c3a3e235f3a85c02a56"
		score = 75
		quality = 85
		tags = "PURPORTED NORTH KOREAN ACTORS, CVE-2018-4878, FILE"
		vuln_type = "Remote Code Execution"
		vuln_impact = "Use-after-free"
		affected_versions = "Adobe Flash 28.0.0.137 and earlier versions"
		mitigation0 = "Implement Protected View for Office documents"
		mitigation1 = "Disable Adobe Flash"
		weaponization = "Embedded in Microsoft Office first payloads"
		actor = "Purported North Korean actors"

	strings:
		$header = "rdf:RDF" wide ascii
		$title = "Adobe Flex" wide ascii
		$pdb = "F:\\work\\flash\\obfuscation\\loadswf\\src" wide ascii
		$s0 = "URLRequest" wide ascii
		$s1 = "URLLoader" wide ascii
		$s2 = "loadswf" wide ascii
		$s3 = "myUrlReqest" wide ascii

	condition:
		filesize < 500KB and all of ( $header* ) and all of ( $title* ) and 3 of ( $s* ) or all of ( $pdb* ) and all of ( $header* ) and 1 of ( $s* )
}

Strings (7 patterns)

IdentifierTypeValueModifiers
$headertext"rdf:RDF"wide ascii
$titletext"Adobe Flex"wide ascii
$pdbtext"F:\\work\\flash\\obfuscation\\loadswf\\src"wide ascii
$s0text"URLRequest"wide ascii
$s1text"URLLoader"wide ascii
$s2text"loadswf"wide ascii
$s3text"myUrlReqest"wide ascii

Condition

filesize < 500KB and all of ( $header* ) and all of ( $title* ) and 3 of ( $s* ) or all of ( $pdb* ) and all of ( $header* ) and 1 of ( $s* )

In plain words (Heuristic)

  • The file must be smaller than 500KB (a cheap guard that skips large files).
  • All patterns in ( $header* ) must match.
  • All patterns in ( $title* ) must match.
  • All patterns in ( $pdb* ) must match.
  • At least 3 patterns in ( $s* ) must match.
  • At least 1 patterns in ( $s* ) must match.

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Licence & attribution

Author: Vitali Kremez, Flashpoint

Source repository: Signature Base (Florian Roth / Nextron) @ 94a1c48d7a

Licence: Detection Rule License 1.1 (repository licence)

Original rule

Mirrored via YARA Forge 20260927, which prefixes rule names with the source and adds normalised meta fields.

Rule id: 44797bbc-693b-5fcb-a4a4-4ebf3f4da725

Metadata

vuln_typeRemote Code Execution
vuln_impactUse-after-free
affected_versionsAdobe Flash 28.0.0.137 and earlier versions
mitigation0Implement Protected View for Office documents
mitigation1Disable Adobe Flash
weaponizationEmbedded in Microsoft Office first payloads
actorPurported North Korean actors

Tags:PURPORTED_NORTH_KOREAN_ACTORSCVE_2018_4878FILE