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Flash PlayerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2015-4428

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-2015-3137, 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 flaw occurs when memory is accessed after being freed, enabling potential code execution in the context of the user.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Flash Player to version 18.0.0.203 or later (13.0.0.302+ for 13.x branch) and Adobe AIR to 18.0.0.180 or later. Given Flash Player is end-of-life, organizations should migrate away from Flash-based content.

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 Adobe Flash Player version
    Open a web browser and visit the Adobe version check page at https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player.html, or open the browser's plugin settings (chrome://plugins in Chrome, about:plugins in Firefox) to view the installed Flash Player version number
    Affected if The displayed version is 13.0.0.289 or earlier, or one of these exact versions: 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. Check Adobe AIR version on Windows
    Open Control Panel, go to Programs and Features, and look for Adobe AIR in the list of installed programs to see the version number
    Affected if The version listed is 18.0.0.144 or earlier
  3. Check Adobe AIR version on macOS
    Open the Applications folder and locate Adobe AIR, or check /Library/Application Support/Adobe/AIR for version information
    Affected if The version installed is 18.0.0.144 or earlier
  4. Check Adobe AIR SDK version
    If you have the Adobe AIR SDK installed, check the SDK version file or the install directory for the version number (typically in the SDK root folder readme or version file)
    Affected if The SDK version is 18.0.0.144 or earlier

Your environment is affected if Adobe Flash Player matches any of the specific vulnerable versions listed, or if Adobe AIR, Adobe AIR SDK, or Adobe 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 Adobe Flash Player to version 18.0.0.203 or later (13.0.0.302+ for 13.x branch) and Adobe AIR to 18.0.0.180 or later. Given Flash Player is end-of-life, organizations should migrate away from Flash-based content.

Recommended fix High confidence

Flash Player 13.0.0.302 or 18.0.0.203 (Windows/OS X), 11.2.202.481 (Linux); Adobe AIR/AIR SDK 18.0.0.180

  1. Identify the currently installed Adobe Flash Player version from Help > About Adobe Flash Player
  2. Identify the currently installed Adobe AIR or AIR SDK version
  3. For Flash Player 13.x and earlier: upgrade to version 13.0.0.302
  4. For Flash Player 14.x through 18.x: upgrade to version 18.0.0.203 (or later)
  5. For Linux Flash Player: upgrade to version 11.2.202.481
  6. For Adobe AIR: upgrade to version 18.0.0.180
  7. For Adobe AIR SDK: upgrade to version 18.0.0.180
  8. For Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler: upgrade to version 18.0.0.180
Caveat Adobe Flash Player and AIR reached end-of-life in late 2020; 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
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,640
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,624.

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-2015-4428 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