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AirApplication · Adobe

CVE-2015-5565

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-2015-5557, CVE-2015-5559, CVE-2015-5561, CVE-2015-5563, and CVE-2015-5564.

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 that allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors. Affects specific versions before 18.0.0.232 on Windows and OS X, before 11.2.202.508 on Linux, and before 18.0.0.199 for AIR and AIR SDK.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Flash Player and AIR to the patched versions (18.0.0.232 or later for Windows/OS X, 11.2.202.508 or later for Linux, 18.0.0.199 or later for AIR). If immediate patching is not feasible, disable or remove Flash Player.

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:<= 11.2.202.491<= 18.0.0.209

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 for installed Adobe Flash Player version
    On Windows, open Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'Get-ItemProperty' for the Flash Player ActiveX control in registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Macromedia\FlashPlayer. On macOS, check /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Flash Player/ or run 'system_profiler SPApplicationsDataType | grep -i flash'. On Linux, check /usr/lib/flash-plugin/ or /opt/flash-plugin/ directories, or run 'rpm -q flash-player' or 'dpkg -l flashplayer'.
    Affected if Installed version is 11.2.202.491 or earlier on Linux, or 18.0.0.209 or earlier on Windows/OS X.
  2. Check Adobe AIR installation and version
    On Windows, look in C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe AIR or C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe AIR, and check the version in the application's properties. On macOS, check /Applications/Adobe AIR or ~/Applications/Adobe AIR. Run 'Adobe AIR Application Installer.exe -version' or locate the Adobe AIR.app and check its Info.plist for CFBundleShortVersionString.
    Affected if Installed version is 18.0.0.180 or earlier.
  3. Verify if Flash Player browser plugin is active
    In Internet Explorer, check for Shockwave Flash Object in Manage Add-ons. In Chrome, type 'chrome://plugins' and locate Flash. In Firefox, type 'about:addons' and check Plugins section. For all browsers, note which browsers have the plugin enabled.
    Affected if Any browser has Adobe Flash Player plugin enabled and the version falls within the affected ranges.
  4. Identify Adobe AIR SDK or Compiler installations
    Check for Adobe AIR SDK directories: common locations include C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe AIR SDK, C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Adobe\AIR, or /opt/adobe-air-sdk on Linux. Look for README or version files inside the SDK folder. Check IDEs like Flash Builder or Animate for bundled SDK versions.
    Affected if Adobe AIR SDK or AIR SDK & Compiler version is 18.0.0.180 or earlier.

Your environment is affected if Adobe Flash Player version is 18.0.0.209 or earlier on Windows/OS X, 11.2.202.491 or earlier on Linux, or Adobe AIR/AIR SDK is 18.0.0.180 or earlier, and Flash or AIR is actively installed or enabled in browsers.

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 and AIR to the patched versions (18.0.0.232 or later for Windows/OS X, 11.2.202.508 or later for Linux, 18.0.0.199 or later for AIR). If immediate patching is not feasible, disable or remove Flash Player.

Recommended fix High confidence

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

  1. Identify which Adobe product is in use: Flash Player, Adobe AIR, AIR SDK, or AIR SDK & Compiler
  2. Check the current installed version of the product
  3. For Flash Player on Windows or OS X: Upgrade to version 18.0.0.232 or later
  4. For Flash Player on Linux: Upgrade to version 11.2.202.508 or later
  5. For Adobe AIR: Upgrade to version 18.0.0.199 or later
  6. For Adobe AIR SDK: Upgrade to version 18.0.0.199 or later
  7. For Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler: Upgrade to version 18.0.0.199 or later
  8. Download the appropriate fixed version from the official Adobe security bulletin at https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/flash-player/apsb15-19.html

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

Fix this in Air Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,270
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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-2015-5565 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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