Flash PlayerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2014-0573

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-11-11

Fix available

A fix is available. Upgrade to 11.2.202.418 / 13.0.0.252 or later.

See remediation →

100/100

Remediation priority · Urgent

Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

Official description

NVD · unedited

Use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player before 13.0.0.252 and 14.x and 15.x before 15.0.0.223 on Windows and OS X and before 11.2.202.418 on Linux, Adobe AIR before 15.0.0.356, Adobe AIR SDK before 15.0.0.356, and Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler before 15.0.0.356 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2014-0588 and CVE-2014-8438.

Technical summary

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR that allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by exploiting freed memory that is still referenced. The vulnerability exists in unspecified vectors within the Flash Player runtime and AIR SDK/compiler.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Flash Player to version 13.0.0.252 or later (Windows/OS X), 11.2.202.418 or later (Linux), and Adobe AIR/SDK to 15.0.0.356 or later to eliminate the use-after-free condition.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions

NVD · CPE data

Flash PlayerApplication

Affected:>= 13.0, < 13.0.0.252>= 14.0, <= 14.0.0.179>= 15.0, < 15.0.0.223>= 11.0, < 11.2.202.418

Air SdkApplication

Affected:<= 15.0.0.356

AirApplication

Affected:<= 15.0.0.356

Air Sdk \& CompilerApplication

Affected:< 15.0.0.356

CVSS breakdown

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?

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

Identify installed Adobe product

Check for Adobe Flash Player: Look for 'Flash Player' in Programs and Features (Windows), or check /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/Flash Player.plugin (Mac), or run 'rpm -q flash-player' or 'dpkg -l flashplugin-installer' (Linux). Check for Adobe AIR: Look for 'Adobe AIR' in Programs and Features (Windows), or check /Applications/Adobe AIR Installer.app (Mac), or run 'air -version' if installed.

Affected if Neither Adobe Flash Player nor Adobe AIR is installed on the system
Determine Flash Player version (Windows)

Open Control Panel > Programs and Features, locate Adobe Flash Player, and note the version in the list. Alternatively, visit 'about:flash' in Internet Explorer or check the file version of C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\Flash.ocx

Affected if Version falls within: >= 13.0 and < 13.0.0.252; OR >= 14.0 and <= 14.0.0.179; OR >= 15.0 and < 15.0.0.223; OR >= 11.0 and < 11.2.202.418
Determine Flash Player version (Mac/Linux)

Mac: Run 'defaults read /Library/Internet\ Plug-Ins/Flash\ Player.plugin/Contents/Info CFBundleVersion' or check the file version of the Flash.plugin. Linux: Run 'rpm -q flash-player' or check the version listed in the Adobe RPM package, or inspect /usr/lib/flash-plugin/libflashplayer.so version

Affected if Version falls within the affected ranges listed above
Determine Adobe AIR version (Windows)

Open Control Panel > Programs and Features, locate Adobe AIR, and note the version. Alternatively, check the file version of C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe AIR\Versions\1.0\Adobe AIR.exe or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe AIR\Versions\1.0\Adobe AIR.exe

Affected if Version is <= 15.0.0.356
Determine Adobe AIR version (Mac)

Run 'defaults read /Applications/Adobe\ AIR\ Installer.app/Contents/Info CFBundleVersion' or check the file version of /Applications/Adobe AIR Installer.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe AIR Installer

Affected if Version is <= 15.0.0.356

The system is affected if Adobe Flash Player version falls within any of the listed affected ranges OR Adobe AIR/SDK version is <= 15.0.0.356.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Remediation

dbcve · scoped

Upgrade available Upgrade to 11.2.202.418 / 13.0.0.252 / 15.0.0.223 or later

Fixed in 11.2.202.41813.0.0.25215.0.0.223

Vendor patch helpx.adobe.com →

Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Flash Player to version 13.0.0.252 or later (Windows/OS X), 11.2.202.418 or later (Linux), and Adobe AIR/SDK to 15.0.0.356 or later to eliminate the use-after-free condition.

Recommended fix High confidence

Flash Player 13.0.0.252 / 14.0.0.180 / 15.0.0.223 / 11.2.202.418; Adobe AIR 15.0.0.356 or later

Identify which Adobe product is installed: Flash Player, Adobe AIR, or Adobe AIR SDK/Compiler
For Flash Player 13.x: upgrade to version 13.0.0.252 or later
For Flash Player 14.x: upgrade to version 14.0.0.180 or later
For Flash Player 15.x: upgrade to version 15.0.0.223 or later
For Flash Player 11.x on Linux: upgrade to version 11.2.202.418 or later
For Adobe AIR: upgrade to version 15.0.0.356 or later
For Adobe AIR SDK/Compiler: upgrade to version 15.0.0.356 or later
Download updates from the official Adobe security bulletin at http://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/flash-player/apsb14-24.html

Caveat Users on end-of-life Flash versions (older than 11.x) may need to migrate away from Flash as Adobe no longer supports those branches

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

Fix this in Flash Player Scoped from the published advisory

Consultation1.0 h
Implementation2.0 h
Testing1.0 h
Review / QA1.0 h

5.0 hours of engineering $890

Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally

dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-0573 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References

Primary sources

helpx.adobe.comPatch / commit
helpx.adobe.comPatchVendor Advisory
lists.opensuse.orgMailing ListThird Party Advisory
nvd.nist.govNVD record

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-0573 in production — separate from our analysis above.

Notes0 Guidelines

Know something about CVE-2014-0573?

The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.

The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
A config change or rule that shut the vector down
A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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

At a glance

A fix existsUpgrade to 11.2.202.418 / 13.0.0.252 or later

Severity 10.0 High

Exploit likelihood EPSS, next 30 days 4.6%

Affects: Flash Player

Remediation

A high-priority fix

Fix this in Flash Player 5 hrs · Low

Typical engagement from $890

Get a fix See the full breakdown ↓

A high-priority vulnerability. Send your environment and a specialist will scope CVE-2014-0573 and return a fixed quote and timeline.

You’ll deal with our team directly and deploy the reviewed fix to staging first — never straight to production.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Check your environment

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.

Scan for this in your stack

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Practitioner notes

No notes yet

Official description

Technical summary

Affected products & versions

CVSS breakdown

Am I affected?

Remediation

References