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Adobe Air SdkApplication · Adobe

CVE-2014-0553

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-09-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 14.0.0.179 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

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
Use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player before 13.0.0.244 and 14.x and 15.x before 15.0.0.152 on Windows and OS X and before 11.2.202.406 on Linux, Adobe AIR before 15.0.0.249 on Windows and OS X and before 15.0.0.252 on Android, Adobe AIR SDK before 15.0.0.249, and Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler before 15.0.0.249 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors.

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

Use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player and AIR allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by accessing freed memory. The flaw exists in unspecified vectors within the Flash runtime environment, enabling memory corruption leading to code execution.

MitigationUpdate to Adobe Flash Player 13.0.0.244/15.0.0.152 or later (or 11.2.202.406 on Linux), or remove Flash Player entirely as it reached end-of-life in 2020. For end-of-life software, uninstallation is the recommended remediation.

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
Adobe Air SdkApplication
Affected:<= 14.0.0.178= 13.0.0.83= 13.0.0.111= 14.0.0.110= 14.0.0.137
OpensuseOperating system
Affected:= 11.4= 12.3= 13.1
Suse Linux Enterprise DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 11.0
Flash PlayerApplication
Affected:<= 13.0.0.241= 13.0.0.182= 13.0.0.201= 13.0.0.206= 13.0.0.214= 13.0.0.223= 13.0.0.231= 14.0.0.125= 14.0.0.145= 14.0.0.176= 14.0.0.179= 15.0.0.144
Adobe AirApplication
Affected:<= 14.0.0.179= 13.0.0.83= 13.0.0.111= 14.0.0.110= 14.0.0.137<= 14.0.0.178

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 Adobe Flash Player is installed
    Windows: Look for 'Flash Player' in Control Panel > Programs and Features, or check for npapiplugins in Firefox (about:plugins) or ActiveX in IE. Mac: Check /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/ for 'Flash Player.plugin'. Linux: Check /usr/lib/flash-plugin/ or /opt/flash-player/
    Affected if Flash Player is present on the system and its version matches any of the affected versions or falls within the affected ranges (versions <= 13.0.0.241, specific point versions 13.0.0.182/201/206/214/223/231, 14.0.0.125/145/176/179, or 15.0.0.144)
  2. Determine the installed Flash Player version
    Windows: Right-click Flash content and select 'About Adobe Flash Player', or run 'reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Macromedia\FlashPlayer' in Command Prompt. Mac: Run 'defaults read /Library/Internet\ Plug-Ins/Flash\ Player.plugin/Contents/Info CFBundleVersion' in Terminal. Linux: Run 'rpm -q flash-player' or check the file version of libflashplayer.so
    Affected if The version returned is <= 13.0.0.241, or equals exactly 13.0.0.182, 201, 206, 214, 223, 231, or 14.0.0.125, 145, 176, 179, or 15.0.0.144
  3. Check if Adobe AIR runtime is installed
    Windows: Look for 'Adobe AIR' in Control Panel > Programs and Features, or check for Adobe AIR in the registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\AIR. Mac: Check /Applications/ for Adobe AIR Application Installer.app, or run 'ls /Applications | grep -i adobe'
    Affected if Adobe AIR is installed and its version matches any of the affected versions (versions <= 14.0.0.179, or exact versions 13.0.0.83, 111, 14.0.0.110, 137, or 14.0.0.178)
  4. Determine the installed Adobe AIR version
    Windows: Run 'reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\AIR" /v Version' in Command Prompt. Mac: Run 'defaults read /Applications/Adobe\ AIR\ Application\ Installer.app/Contents/Info CFBundleVersion' in Terminal. Linux: Run 'rpm -q adobe-air-sdk' or check /opt/adobe-air-sdk/ version file
    Affected if The version is <= 14.0.0.179, or equals exactly 13.0.0.83, 13.0.0.111, 14.0.0.110, 14.0.0.137, or 14.0.0.178

The environment is affected if Adobe Flash Player or Adobe AIR is installed and its version number matches any of the specific versions or falls within the version ranges listed in the affected products for this CVE.

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 14.0.0.179
Vendor patch helpx.adobe.com →
Interim mitigation

Update to Adobe Flash Player 13.0.0.244/15.0.0.152 or later (or 11.2.202.406 on Linux), or remove Flash Player entirely as it reached end-of-life in 2020. For end-of-life software, uninstallation is the recommended remediation.

Recommended fix High confidence

Flash Player 13.0.0.244+ (or 15.0.0.152+ for 14.x/15.x branch), 11.2.202.406+ for Linux; Adobe AIR 15.0.0.249+ (Windows/OS X), 15.0.0.252+ (Android); Adobe AIR SDK 15.0.0.249+

  1. 1. Identify the installed Adobe Flash Player version by navigating to 'About Flash Player' in the browser or checking the system-installed version.
  2. 2. For Windows/OS X Flash Player: Upgrade to version 13.0.0.244 or higher, or version 15.0.0.152 or higher if using the 14.x/15.x branch.
  3. 3. For Linux Flash Player: Upgrade to version 11.2.202.406 or higher.
  4. 4. For Adobe AIR (Windows/OS X): Upgrade to version 15.0.0.249 or higher.
  5. 5. For Adobe AIR (Android): Upgrade to version 15.0.0.252 or higher.
  6. 6. For Adobe AIR SDK: Upgrade to version 15.0.0.249 or higher.
  7. 7. For OpenSUSE systems (11.4, 12.3, 13.1): Apply vendor security updates via 'zypper patch' or obtain patched flash-player packages from OpenSUSE repositories.
  8. 8. For Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop 11.0: Apply vendor security updates via YaST or 'zypper patch'.
Caveat Adobe Flash Player reached end-of-life in December 2020; consider migrating away from Flash-based content. Some legacy applications may rely on older Flash versions.

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

Fix this in Adobe Air Sdk Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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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-2014-0553 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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