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Flash PlayerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2015-5554

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 by leveraging an unspecified "type confusion," a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-5555, CVE-2015-5558, and CVE-2015-5562.

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

A type confusion vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player (before 18.0.0.232 on Windows/OS X, before 11.2.202.508 on Linux) and Adobe AIR (before 18.0.0.199) allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by exploiting the confusion between object types during runtime processing.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Flash Player to version 18.0.0.232 or later (Windows/OS X) and 11.2.202.508 or later (Linux), and Adobe AIR to version 18.0.0.199 or later. Alternatively, consider migrating away from Flash as it is end-of-life.

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

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 the Flash Player Settings Manager at https://www.adobe.com/support/flashplayer/debug.html, or right-click on any Flash content in a browser and select 'About Adobe Flash Player'. Alternatively, check the file version of NPSWF32.dll or Flash32_xx_x_x_xxx.ocx in the browser's plugins folder.
    Affected if The reported version is 18.0.0.209 or earlier on Windows/OS X (note: later fixed in 18.0.0.232, but vulnerable versions are <= 18.0.0.209)
  2. Check Adobe Flash Player version on Linux
    Open a terminal and run 'rpm -q flash-plugin' for RPM-based systems, or check the version displayed in the Firefox Add-ons > Plugins section when Flash is present.
    Affected if The reported version is 11.2.202.491 or earlier on Linux (note: later fixed in 11.2.202.508, but vulnerable versions are <= 11.2.202.491)
  3. Check Adobe AIR version on Windows or OS X
    Open Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or on OS X check /Applications/Adobe AIR Installer.app. Look for 'Adobe AIR' in the installed programs list and note the version displayed.
    Affected if The installed Adobe AIR version is 18.0.0.180 or earlier (the fixed version is 18.0.0.199)
  4. Check Adobe AIR SDK or AIR SDK & Compiler version
    If you have the Adobe AIR SDK installed for development, check the SDK version file (typically in the SDK root directory) or the 'air-sdk-version.xml' file if present.
    Affected if The AIR SDK or AIR SDK & Compiler version is 18.0.0.180 or earlier

You are affected if any installed Adobe Flash Player version is 18.0.0.209 or earlier (Windows/OS X) or 11.2.202.491 or earlier (Linux), or any Adobe AIR/SDK version is 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) and 11.2.202.508 or later (Linux), and Adobe AIR to version 18.0.0.199 or later. Alternatively, consider migrating away from Flash as it is end-of-life.

Recommended fix High confidence

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

  1. Identify the currently installed Adobe Flash Player version by navigating to About Flash Player or checking the system's installed programs
  2. Identify the currently installed Adobe AIR version from the Windows Programs and Features or macOS Applications folder
  3. For Windows and OS X: Download Adobe Flash Player 18.0.0.232 from the official Adobe website or your organization's software distribution channel
  4. For Linux: Download Adobe Flash Player 11.2.202.508 from the official Adobe repository
  5. Download Adobe AIR 18.0.0.199 and Adobe AIR SDK 18.0.0.199 from the Adobe website
  6. Close all web browsers and applications that use Flash Player or AIR
  7. Install the Flash Player update by running the installer with appropriate privileges
  8. Install the AIR update and SDK update if applicable

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

Fix this in Flash Player Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
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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-2015-5554 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