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AirApplication · Adobe

CVE-2015-5544

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-08-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 18.0.0.209 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
Adobe Flash Player before 18.0.0.232 on Windows and OS X and before 11.2.202.508 on Linux, Adobe AIR before 18.0.0.199, Adobe AIR SDK before 18.0.0.199, and Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler before 18.0.0.199 allow attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-5545, CVE-2015-5546, CVE-2015-5547, CVE-2015-5548, CVE-2015-5549, CVE-2015-5552, and CVE-2015-5553.

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

Memory corruption vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via unspecified vectors. The flaw affects multiple product versions across Windows, OS X, and Linux platforms.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Flash Player to version 18.0.0.232 or later (Windows/OS X) / 11.2.202.508 or later (Linux), and Adobe AIR to version 18.0.0.199 or later. These are critical updates addressing code execution vulnerabilities.

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
AirApplication
Affected:<= 18.0.0.180
Air SdkApplication
Affected:<= 18.0.0.180
Air Sdk \& CompilerApplication
Affected:<= 18.0.0.180
Flash PlayerApplication
Affected:<= 18.0.0.209<= 11.2.202.491

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 on Windows or OS X
    Open a browser and navigate to the Adobe Flash Player version check page at about:flash, or visit the Adobe diagnostic page. Alternatively, check the file properties of npapi32.dll (Firefox) or pepflashplayer.dll (Chrome) in the browser's plugin directory.
    Affected if The installed version is 18.0.0.209 or earlier, or 11.2.202.491 or earlier on Linux.
  2. Check Adobe Flash Player version on Linux
    Open a terminal and run the command: rpm -q flash-player or dpkg -l | grep flash, depending on the package manager. Also check /usr/lib/flash-plugin/ for the plugin file.
    Affected if The installed version is 11.2.202.491 or earlier.
  3. Check Adobe AIR version on Windows
    Open Control Panel and look for Adobe AIR in the Programs and Features list, or check the file version of AIR.exe in the Adobe AIR installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe AIR).
    Affected if The installed version is 18.0.0.180 or earlier.
  4. Check Adobe AIR version on OS X
    Open Finder, navigate to /Applications/Adobe AIR Application Installer, right-click and select Get Info, or check via Terminal using: ls /Applications/ | grep -i adobe
    Affected if The installed version is 18.0.0.180 or earlier.
  5. Check Adobe AIR SDK version
    Inspect the AIR SDK version file (version.xml or air-sdk-version) located in the SDK installation directory, or run: adt -version if the AIR Developer Tool is available.
    Affected if The SDK version is 18.0.0.180 or earlier.

A user is affected if Adobe Flash Player is version 18.0.0.209 or earlier (Windows/OS X) or 11.2.202.491 or earlier (Linux), or if Adobe AIR/AIR SDK is version 18.0.0.180 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 18.0.0.209
Vendor patch helpx.adobe.com →
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Flash Player to version 18.0.0.232 or later (Windows/OS X) / 11.2.202.508 or later (Linux), and Adobe AIR to version 18.0.0.199 or later. These are critical updates addressing code execution vulnerabilities.

Recommended fix High confidence

Flash Player 18.0.0.232+ (Windows/OS X) / 11.2.202.508+ (Linux); Adobe AIR 18.0.0.199+; Adobe AIR SDK 18.0.0.199+

  1. Check current Adobe Flash Player version by visiting about:flash or using the Adobe version check tool
  2. Check current Adobe AIR/AIR SDK version in the About panel or SDK documentation
  3. For Flash Player: Download and install version 18.0.0.232 or later for Windows/OS X, or version 11.2.202.508 or later for Linux from https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/
  4. For Adobe AIR: Download and install version 18.0.0.199 or later from https://get.adobe.com/air/
  5. For Adobe AIR SDK: Download and install version 18.0.0.199 or later from https://airsdk.harman.com/ (or official Adobe AIR SDK download page)
  6. Verify the update was successful by checking the version again
  7. Consult the vendor security bulletin at https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/flash-player/apsb15-19.html for complete details

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

Fix this in Air Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
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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-2015-5544 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