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Flash PlayerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2014-0520

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-05-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 11.2.202.359 / 13.0.0.111 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Adobe Flash Player before 13.0.0.214 on Windows and OS X and before 11.2.202.359 on Linux, Adobe AIR SDK before 13.0.0.111, and Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler before 13.0.0.111 allow attackers to bypass intended access restrictions via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2014-0517, CVE-2014-0518, and CVE-2014-0519.

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 · moderate confidence

Adobe Flash Player and AIR SDK contain an access restriction bypass vulnerability that allows attackers to circumvent intended security controls. The vulnerability affects specific versions prior to 13.0.0.214 (Flash Player on Windows/OS X), 11.2.202.359 (Flash Player on Linux), and 13.0.0.111 (AIR SDK). This is a distinct flaw from three related CVEs (CVE-2014-0517, CVE-2014-0518, CVE-2014-0519) affecting the same timeframe.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Flash Player to version 13.0.0.214 or later (Windows/OS X) / 11.2.202.359 or later (Linux), and update Adobe AIR SDK to 13.0.0.111 or later to remediate this access restriction bypass.

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:>= 13.0, < 13.0.0.214>= 11.0, < 11.2.202.359
Adobe AirApplication
Affected:< 13.0.0.111

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
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

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

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 Flash Player version on Windows or OS X
    Open a browser and navigate to the Adobe Version Checker page at https://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/, or open the Flash Player node in the browser's plugin list (chrome://plugins in Chrome, about:plugins in Firefox). Note the version number displayed.
    Affected if The version shown is 13.0.0.213 or earlier (for the 13.x branch)
  2. Check Flash Player version on Linux
    Open a terminal and run: dpkg -l | grep flash or rpm -q flash-plugin to query the installed package, or locate the libflashplayer.so file and use 'file' or check the package metadata.
    Affected if The version shown is 11.2.202.358 or earlier (for the 11.x branch on Linux)
  3. Check Adobe AIR runtime version on Windows or OS X
    Open the Windows Control Panel or OS X System Preferences and look for Adobe AIR, or run 'air -version' from command line if AIR SDK is installed, or check the program files directory for the AIR runtime version.
    Affected if The version shown is earlier than 13.0.0.111
  4. Verify Flash Player is installed in web browsers
    Check all installed browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari) for the Flash Player plugin. Each browser may have its own plugin list: Firefox about:addons, Chrome chrome://plugins, Internet Explorer Manage Add-ons.
    Affected if Any browser shows Flash Player version 13.0.0.213 or earlier, or 11.2.202.358 or earlier on Linux, indicating the vulnerable version is installed

You are affected if any installed Flash Player instance (in any browser or standalone) reports version 13.0.0.213 or earlier on Windows/OS X, or 11.2.202.358 or earlier on Linux, OR if Adobe AIR runtime is earlier than 13.0.0.111.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 11.2.202.359 / 13.0.0.111 / 13.0.0.214 or later
Fixed in 11.2.202.35913.0.0.11113.0.0.214
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Flash Player to version 13.0.0.214 or later (Windows/OS X) / 11.2.202.359 or later (Linux), and update Adobe AIR SDK to 13.0.0.111 or later to remediate this access restriction bypass.

Fix this in Flash Player Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.

Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2014-0520 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