AirApplication · Adobe

CVE-2015-5555

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

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-2015-5554, CVE-2015-5558, and CVE-2015-5562.

Technical summary

dbcve analysis · high confidence

This is a type confusion vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player, AIR, and AIR SDK that allows attackers to execute arbitrary code. The vulnerability affects specific versions prior to 18.0.0.232 (Flash Player on Windows/OS X), 11.2.202.508 (Flash Player on Linux), and 18.0.0.199 (AIR/AIR SDK). It is distinct from related CVEs (CVE-2015-5554, CVE-2015-5558, CVE-2015-5562) but shares the same vulnerability class.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Flash Player, AIR, and AIR SDK to the patched versions (18.0.0.232+ for Flash Player on Windows/OS X, 11.2.202.508+ on Linux, 18.0.0.199+ for AIR/AIR SDK). Consider disabling Flash Player in browsers if not required, as Flash reached end-of-life in December 2020.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions

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:<= 11.2.202.491<= 18.0.0.209

CVSS breakdown

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?

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

Check if Adobe Flash Player is installed

On Windows, check C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\ for the Flash DLL files, or check the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Macromedia\FlashPlayer. On Mac, check /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Flash Player/ or the browser plugin directories. On Linux, check /usr/lib/flash-plugin/ or /usr/share/adobe-flashplugin/. Alternatively, in a browser, navigate to about:plugins (Firefox) or chrome://plugins (Chrome) to list installed plugins.

Affected if Flash Player is found and its version is 11.2.202.491 or earlier on Linux, or 18.0.0.209 or earlier on Windows/OS X, or any version between 11.2.202.492 and 18.0.0.209 that is not the patched release.
Check if Adobe AIR is installed

On Windows, check the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\AIR for version information, or look in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe AIR\. On Mac, check /Applications/Adobe AIR/ or the ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/AIR/ folder. On Linux, check /opt/adobe-air/ or use the package manager (dpkg -l | grep -i adobe-air).

Affected if Adobe AIR is found and its version is 18.0.0.180 or earlier.
Check if Adobe AIR SDK is installed

Look for the AIR SDK installation directory, commonly found in the Adobe Creative Cloud installation folder, or in a local development environment under a path like /path/to/AIR_SDK or C:\path\to\AIR_SDK. Check the version.txt or SDKVersion.txt file within the SDK folder.

Affected if Adobe AIR SDK or AIR SDK & Compiler is found and its version is 18.0.0.180 or earlier.
Compare installed version against affected ranges

Match the discovered version number to the specific affected range: Flash Player Linux 11.2.202.491 or lower; Flash Player Windows/OS X 18.0.0.209 or lower (excluding the patched 18.0.0.232); AIR/AIR SDK 18.0.0.180 or lower (excluding the patched 18.0.0.199).

Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: Flash Player <= 11.2.202.491 (Linux), Flash Player <= 18.0.0.209 (Windows/OS X), or AIR/AIR SDK <= 18.0.0.180.

If Flash Player, AIR, or AIR SDK is present at any version within the affected ranges listed above, the environment is vulnerable to CVE-2015-5555 and requires updating to a patched version.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Remediation

dbcve · scoped

Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 18.0.0.209

Vendor patch helpx.adobe.com →

Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Flash Player, AIR, and AIR SDK to the patched versions (18.0.0.232+ for Flash Player on Windows/OS X, 11.2.202.508+ on Linux, 18.0.0.199+ for AIR/AIR SDK). Consider disabling Flash Player in browsers if not required, as Flash reached end-of-life in December 2020.

Recommended fix High confidence

Flash Player 18.0.0.232 (Windows/OS X) / 11.2.202.508 (Linux); AIR 18.0.0.199; AIR SDK 18.0.0.199; AIR SDK & Compiler 18.0.0.199

1. Identify the installed Adobe Flash Player version by navigating to about:flash (or using the version checker at adobe.com)
2. Identify the installed Adobe AIR version from Control Panel > Programs and Features
3. For Flash Player on Windows/OS X: Download and install Flash Player 18.0.0.232 or later from adobe.com
4. For Flash Player on Linux: Download and install Flash Player 11.2.202.508 or later from adobe.com
5. For Adobe AIR: Download and install AIR 18.0.0.199 or later from adobe.com
6. For Adobe AIR SDK: Download and install AIR SDK 18.0.0.199 or later from adobe.com
7. For Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler: Download and install the 18.0.0.199 version from adobe.com
8. Restart any browsers and verify the updated versions are installed

Caveat Note that Flash Player end-of-life was announced for December 2020; consider migrating away from Flash-based content

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

Fix this in Air Scoped from the published advisory

Consultation2.0 h
Implementation2.0 h
Testing1.0 h
Review / QA1.0 h

6.0 hours of engineering $1,090

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Scan for this in your stack

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References

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-5555 in production — separate from our analysis above.

Notes0 Guidelines

Know something about CVE-2015-5555?

The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.

The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
A config change or rule that shut the vector down
A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon

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

At a glance

A fix existsUpgrade to after 18.0.0.209 or later

Severity 10.0 High

Exploit likelihood EPSS, next 30 days 43.4%

Affects: Air

Remediation

A high-priority fix

Fix this in Air 6 hrs · Low

Typical engagement from $1,090

Get a fix See the full breakdown ↓

A high-priority vulnerability. Send your environment and a specialist will scope CVE-2015-5555 and return a fixed quote and timeline.

You’ll deal with our team directly and deploy the reviewed fix to staging first — never straight to production.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Check your environment

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.

Scan for this in your stack

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Practitioner notes

No notes yet

Official description

Technical summary

Affected products & versions

CVSS breakdown

Am I affected?

Remediation

References