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Flash PlayerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2015-3118

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-07-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 18.0.0.144 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit 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 13.0.0.302 and 14.x through 18.x before 18.0.0.203 on Windows and OS X and before 11.2.202.481 on Linux, Adobe AIR before 18.0.0.180, Adobe AIR SDK before 18.0.0.180, and Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler before 18.0.0.180 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-3124, CVE-2015-3127, CVE-2015-3128, CVE-2015-3129, CVE-2015-3131, CVE-2015-3132, CVE-2015-3136, CVE-2015-3137, CVE-2015-4428, CVE-2015-4430, and CVE-2015-5117.

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 Adobe AIR allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors. The vulnerability stems from improper memory management where freed memory is accessed after being deallocated, potentially allowing attackers to corrupt memory and gain code execution.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Flash Player to version 13.0.0.302 or later (Windows/OS X) / 11.2.202.481 or later (Linux), and Adobe AIR to 18.0.0.180 or later. Remove or disable older Flash installations if updates are not possible.

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:<= 13.0.0.289= 14.0.0.125= 14.0.0.145= 14.0.0.176= 14.0.0.179= 15.0.0.152= 15.0.0.167= 15.0.0.189= 15.0.0.223= 15.0.0.239= 15.0.0.246= 16.0.0.235
AirApplication
Affected:<= 18.0.0.144
Air SdkApplication
Affected:<= 18.0.0.144
Air Sdk \& CompilerApplication
Affected:<= 18.0.0.144

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. Identify installed Adobe Flash Player version on Windows
    Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the Flash Player plugin location: C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\ (or C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\ for 32-bit on 64-bit). Right-click on NPSWF32.dll (for browsers) or Flash.ocx (for Internet Explorer) and select Properties, then go to the Details tab to view the File Version.
    Affected if The file version is less than or equal to 13.0.0.289, OR equals 14.0.0.125, 14.0.0.145, 14.0.0.176, 14.0.0.179, 15.0.0.152, 15.0.0.167, 15.0.0.189, 15.0.0.223, 15.0.0.239, 15.0.0.246, or 16.0.0.235
  2. Identify installed Adobe Flash Player version on macOS
    Open Finder and go to /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/ or ~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/. Locate the Flash Player.plugin file, right-click and select Get Info, or use Get Info on NPSWF32.dll in the same directory to view the version.
    Affected if The displayed version matches any of the affected versions listed above (13.0.0.289 or lower, or any of the specific 14.x, 15.x, or 16.0.0.235 versions).
  3. Identify installed Adobe Flash Player version on Linux
    Locate the libflashplayer.so file (typically in /usr/lib/flash-plugin/ or /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/). Run the command: rpm -q flash-plugin (for RPM-based distros) or check the file properties of the .so file for version information.
    Affected if The installed version is 11.2.202.481 or earlier, or matches the specific vulnerable versions listed for other platforms.
  4. Identify installed Adobe AIR version on Windows
    Open Control Panel and go to Programs and Features (or Add or Remove Programs on older Windows). Look for Adobe AIR in the list of installed programs. The version will be displayed in the Version column.
    Affected if The version listed is 18.0.0.144 or earlier.
  5. Identify installed Adobe AIR version on macOS
    Open Finder and navigate to /Library/Frameworks/AIR.framework/. Right-click on the AIR.framework folder and select Get Info to view the version, or check the Applications folder for Adobe AIR application and view its Info.plist.
    Affected if The version displayed is 18.0.0.144 or earlier.

A system is affected if Adobe Flash Player is installed with any version matching the specific vulnerable versions listed (13.0.0.289 and below, or any of the exact 14.x, 15.x, or 16.0.0.235 versions), or if Adobe AIR version 18.0.0.144 or earlier is installed.

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 18.0.0.144
Vendor patch helpx.adobe.com →
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Flash Player to version 13.0.0.302 or later (Windows/OS X) / 11.2.202.481 or later (Linux), and Adobe AIR to 18.0.0.180 or later. Remove or disable older Flash installations if updates are not possible.

Recommended fix High confidence

Flash Player 13.0.0.302 or 18.0.0.203 (or 11.2.202.481 on Linux); Adobe AIR 18.0.0.180; Adobe AIR SDK 18.0.0.180; Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler 18.0.0.180

  1. Identify the currently installed Adobe Flash Player, Adobe AIR, or Adobe AIR SDK version
  2. For Flash Player: Navigate to Adobe's official security bulletin at https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/flash-player/apsb15-16.html
  3. Download and install Flash Player version 13.0.0.302 (for 13.x branch) or version 18.0.0.203 (for 14.x-18.x branches)
  4. For Linux systems: Download and install Flash Player version 11.2.202.481
  5. For Adobe AIR: Download and install version 18.0.0.180
  6. For Adobe AIR SDK or AIR SDK & Compiler: Download and install version 18.0.0.180
  7. Restart any browsers or applications using Flash Player after installation
  8. Verify the installed version matches the target fixed version
Caveat Security updates within the same major version typically do not introduce breaking changes; however, test critical workflows after upgrading

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

Fix this in Flash Player Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,440
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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-2015-3118 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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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