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Flash PlayerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2015-5557

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
Use-after-free vulnerability in 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 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-5127, CVE-2015-5130, CVE-2015-5134, CVE-2015-5539, CVE-2015-5540, CVE-2015-5550, CVE-2015-5551, CVE-2015-5556, CVE-2015-5559, CVE-2015-5561, CVE-2015-5563, CVE-2015-5564, and CVE-2015-5565.

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 allowing arbitrary code execution via unspecified vectors.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Flash Player to version 18.0.0.232 (Windows/OS X) or 11.2.202.508 (Linux), and Adobe AIR/SDK to version 18.0.0.199 or later.

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:<= 11.2.202.491<= 18.0.0.209
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. Identify installed Adobe Flash Player version on Windows
    Check the file version of NPSWF32.dll or Flash32_*.ocx in C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\ or use PowerShell: (Get-Item 'C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\NPSWF32_*.dll').VersionInfo.FileVersion
    Affected if The version is 11.2.202.491 or earlier, OR between 12.0.0.1 and 18.0.0.209 (inclusive)
  2. Identify installed Adobe Flash Player version on macOS
    Check the version in /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Flash Player/ or run: defaults read /Library/Internet\ Plug-Ins/Flash\ Player.plugin/Contents/Info CFBundleVersion
    Affected if The version is 11.2.202.491 or earlier, OR between 12.0.0.1 and 18.0.0.209 (inclusive)
  3. Identify installed Adobe AIR version on Windows
    Check the version of AIR.dll in the Adobe AIR installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe AIR\) or check Add/Remove Programs
    Affected if The version is 18.0.0.180 or earlier
  4. Identify installed Adobe AIR version on macOS
    Check the application bundle version: defaults read /Applications/Adobe\ AIR.app/Contents/Info CFBundleVersion
    Affected if The version is 18.0.0.180 or earlier
  5. Identify installed Adobe AIR SDK version
    Check the version file in the AIR SDK directory, typically named version.xml or check the AIR SDK Installer log, or examine the 'AIR SDK.version' file in the SDK folder
    Affected if The version is 18.0.0.180 or earlier

Your environment is affected if Adobe Flash Player version is 11.2.202.491 or earlier, or between 12.0.0.1 and 18.0.0.209, or if 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 (Windows/OS X) or 11.2.202.508 (Linux), and Adobe AIR/SDK to version 18.0.0.199 or later.

Recommended fix High confidence

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

  1. 1. Determine the currently installed Adobe Flash Player version by navigating to https://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/ or checking the program's version information
  2. 2. If running Windows or OS X, upgrade Flash Player to version 18.0.0.232 or later
  3. 3. If running Linux, upgrade Flash Player to version 11.2.202.508 or later
  4. 4. For Adobe AIR installations, upgrade to version 18.0.0.199 or later
  5. 5. For Adobe AIR SDK and AIR SDK & Compiler, upgrade to version 18.0.0.199 or later
  6. 6. Obtain the appropriate updates from the official Adobe security bulletin at https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/flash-player/apsb15-19.html
  7. 7. Restart any browsers or applications that use Flash Player after installation
  8. 8. Verify the installed version matches the corrected version number
Caveat Adobe Flash Player is deprecated and no longer receives security updates; 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
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

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-2015-5557 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