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Flash PlayerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2015-5118

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
Heap-based buffer overflow 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-2015-3135 and CVE-2015-4432.

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

Heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR allowing arbitrary code execution. The flaw exists in unspecified vectors within Flash Player versions before 13.0.0.302, 14.x-18.x before 18.0.0.203 on Windows/OS X, and before 11.2.202.481 on Linux, as well as AIR versions before 18.0.0.180.

MitigationApply vendor patches: Update Adobe Flash Player to version 13.0.0.302 or later (14.x/18.x to 18.0.0.203+, Linux to 11.2.202.481+), and Adobe AIR to 18.0.0.180 or later. As Flash is end-of-life, plan migration 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 if Adobe Flash Player is installed
    On Windows, check registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Macromedia\FlashPlayer or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Adobe Flash Player. On Linux, check for /usr/lib/flash-plugin/libflashplayer.so or package version via dpkg/rpm. On macOS, check /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/Flash Player.plugin
    Affected if Flash Player is present on the system
  2. Determine installed Flash Player version
    Read the version value from the registry (Windows), file version of the plugin (browser inspection), or package manager (Linux). In browsers, navigate to about:plugins or use chrome://plugins to see Flash version
    Affected if Version cannot be determined or is one of the affected versions listed (<=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)
  3. Check if Adobe AIR is installed
    On Windows, check registry HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Adobe AIR or look for Adobe AIR application files. On Linux/macOS, check for AIR runtime installation
    Affected if Adobe AIR is present on the system
  4. Determine Adobe AIR version
    Read version from registry (Windows) or check the AIR runtime version through the application's app.xml manifest file located in the AIR application's directory
    Affected if AIR version is <= 18.0.0.144 or cannot be determined
  5. Verify Flash Player ActiveX (IE/Edge) version
    Check DLL version of Flash32_*.ocx in C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\ or query via PowerShell: Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Macromedia\FlashPlayerActiveX'
    Affected if ActiveX version falls within the affected version ranges

System is affected if Adobe Flash Player version is <=13.0.0.289, any of the specific 14.x/15.x/16.x versions listed, or Adobe AIR version is <=18.0.0.144 on Windows, macOS, or Linux.

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

Apply vendor patches: Update Adobe Flash Player to version 13.0.0.302 or later (14.x/18.x to 18.0.0.203+, Linux to 11.2.202.481+), and Adobe AIR to 18.0.0.180 or later. As Flash is end-of-life, plan migration away from Flash-based content.

Recommended fix High confidence

Flash Player 13.0.0.302+ (13.x) or 18.0.0.203+ (14.x-18.x on Windows/OS X), 11.2.202.481+ (Linux); Adobe AIR 18.0.0.180+

  1. 1. Identify the currently installed Adobe Flash Player version by navigating to About Flash Player in the software or visiting a version check site.
  2. 2. Determine the operating system (Windows, OS X, or Linux) to select the appropriate fixed version.
  3. 3. For Windows and OS X: If using Flash Player 13.x, upgrade to version 13.0.0.302 or later. If using Flash Player 14.x through 18.x, upgrade to version 18.0.0.203 or later.
  4. 4. For Linux: Upgrade Flash Player to version 11.2.202.481 or later.
  5. 5. For Adobe AIR installations: Upgrade to version 18.0.0.180 or later.
  6. 6. For Adobe AIR SDK users: Upgrade SDK and AIR SDK & Compiler to version 18.0.0.180 or later.
  7. 7. Download the appropriate updated version from the official Adobe Security Bulletin APSB15-16: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/flash-player/apsb15-16.html
  8. 8. Install the updated version and verify the installation was successful.
Caveat Adobe Flash Player is deprecated and no longer supported as of December 31, 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
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-2015-5118 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
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  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data