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Flash PlayerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2015-3137

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
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-2015-3118, CVE-2015-3124, CVE-2015-3127, CVE-2015-3128, CVE-2015-3129, CVE-2015-3131, CVE-2015-3132, CVE-2015-3136, 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 allowing arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability stems from improper memory management where memory is accessed after being freed, enabling attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors.

MitigationUpdate to patched versions: Flash Player 13.0.0.302, 18.0.0.203+, or 11.2.202.481+ for Linux; Adobe AIR 18.0.0.180+. Alternatively, remove Flash Player if not required.

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. Check if Adobe Flash Player is installed
    On Windows, check the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Macromedia\FlashPlayer\CurrentVersion or look in C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash. On Linux, check /usr/lib/flash-plugin or /usr/lib64/flash-plugin directory. On macOS, check /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/Flash Player.plugin
    Affected if Flash Player is found and the installed version matches any of the affected versions: 13.0.0.289 or earlier 13.x; 14.0.0.125, 145, 176, 179; 15.0.0.152, 167, 189, 223, 239, 246; 16.0.0.235
  2. Verify Adobe Flash Player version number
    Run the Flash Player version checker at https://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/ in the browser, or check the DLL file properties: right-click npctrl.dll or Flash32_*.ocx in the browser plugins folder and view Version info
    Affected if The displayed version number is 13.0.0.289 or lower, or exactly matches 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
  3. Check if Adobe AIR is installed
    On Windows, look in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe AIR or check registry HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\AIR. On macOS, check /Applications/Adobe AIR. Verify the version by running: on Windows, 'Adobe AIR Application Installer.exe --version' in the Adobe AIR folder
    Affected if Adobe AIR is installed and the version is 18.0.0.144 or earlier
  4. Check Adobe AIR SDK or AIR SDK & Compiler versions
    If developing with AIR, check the SDK version in the installation directory (usually named with version number like air-sdk or AIR_SDK_18.0.0.144) or check the AIR SDK version via command line: 'adl -version' from the SDK bin directory
    Affected if The AIR SDK or AIR SDK & Compiler version is 18.0.0.144 or earlier

Your environment is affected if Adobe Flash Player is installed with any version from the affected list (13.x through 16.0.0.235), or if Adobe AIR, AIR SDK, or AIR SDK & Compiler is at version 18.0.0.144 or earlier.

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 to patched versions: Flash Player 13.0.0.302, 18.0.0.203+, or 11.2.202.481+ for Linux; Adobe AIR 18.0.0.180+. Alternatively, remove Flash Player if not required.

Recommended fix High confidence

Flash Player 13.0.0.302+ (13.x), 18.0.0.203+ (14-18.x), 11.2.202.481+ (Linux); Adobe AIR 18.0.0.180+; Adobe AIR SDK 18.0.0.180+

  1. Identify the currently installed Adobe Flash Player version by navigating to 'About Flash Player' in the right-click menu or checking the system's installed programs
  2. Identify the currently installed Adobe AIR version from the system's installed programs list
  3. For Windows/OS X users with Flash Player 13.x: Upgrade to Flash Player 13.0.0.302 or later
  4. For Windows/OS X users with Flash Player 14.x-18.x: Upgrade to Flash Player 18.0.0.203 or later
  5. For Linux users: Upgrade to Flash Player 11.2.202.481 or later
  6. For Adobe AIR users: Upgrade to Adobe AIR 18.0.0.180 or later
  7. For Adobe AIR SDK users: Upgrade to Adobe AIR SDK 18.0.0.180 or later
  8. For Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler users: Upgrade to Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler 18.0.0.180 or later
Caveat Adobe Flash Player reached end-of-life on December 31, 2020 and no longer receives security updates; consider migrating away from Flash-based content

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

Fix this in Flash Player Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,320
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2015-3137 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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