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AirApplication · Adobe

CVE-2015-8043

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-11-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 19.0.0.213 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 18.0.0.261 and 19.x before 19.0.0.245 on Windows and OS X and before 11.2.202.548 on Linux, Adobe AIR before 19.0.0.241, Adobe AIR SDK before 19.0.0.241, and Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler before 19.0.0.241 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-7651, CVE-2015-7652, CVE-2015-7653, CVE-2015-7654, CVE-2015-7655, CVE-2015-7656, CVE-2015-7657, CVE-2015-7658, CVE-2015-7660, CVE-2015-7661, CVE-2015-7663, CVE-2015-8042, CVE-2015-8044, and CVE-2015-8046.

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 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors. The vulnerability stems from improper memory management where the software attempts to use memory after it has been freed, leading to potential code execution.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Flash Player to version 18.0.0.261/19.0.0.245 or later (11.2.202.548 on Linux) and Adobe AIR to 19.0.0.241 or later. If patching is not immediately feasible, disable or restrict Flash Player content execution until updates can be applied.

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:<= 19.0.0.213<= 19.0.0.190
Air SdkApplication
Affected:<= 19.0.0.213
Air Sdk \& CompilerApplication
Affected:<= 19.0.0.213
Flash PlayerApplication
Affected:<= 11.2.202.540<= 18.0.0.255= 19.0.0.185= 19.0.0.207= 19.0.0.226

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 in Windows
    Open Internet Explorer or Edge, navigate to 'about:plugins' or visit a version detection page such as 'https://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/' to display the installed Flash Player version
    Affected if The displayed version is 11.2.202.540 or earlier, any 18.x version up to 18.0.0.255, or exactly 19.0.0.185, 19.0.0.207, or 19.0.0.226
  2. Check Adobe Flash Player version on Linux
    Open a terminal and run 'rpm -q flash-player' or 'dpkg -l | grep flash' depending on your package manager, or check /usr/lib/flash-plugin/ for the version file
    Affected if The version is 11.2.202.540 or earlier
  3. Check Adobe AIR version on Windows
    Open Control Panel, go to 'Programs and Features' or 'Add or Remove Programs', and look for Adobe AIR in the list to see the installed version number
    Affected if The version listed is 19.0.0.213 or earlier, or 19.0.0.190 or earlier
  4. Check Adobe AIR version via command line
    Open a command prompt and run 'reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Adobe AIR" /v DisplayVersion' for system-wide installation, or check the application's version info in its install directory
    Affected if The version returned is 19.0.0.213 or earlier, or 19.0.0.190 or earlier
  5. Check for Adobe AIR SDK installation
    If you have Adobe AIR SDK or AIR SDK & Compiler installed, check the version file (typically AIRSDKReadme.txt or the SDK's internal version metadata) in the SDK installation directory
    Affected if The SDK version is 19.0.0.213 or earlier

You are affected if any installed Adobe Flash Player version is 11.2.202.540 or earlier, 18.0.0.255 or earlier, or exactly 19.0.0.185/207/226; OR any Adobe AIR/SDK version is 19.0.0.213 or earlier (or 19.0.0.190 or earlier for the older branch).

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 19.0.0.213
Vendor patch helpx.adobe.com →
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Flash Player to version 18.0.0.261/19.0.0.245 or later (11.2.202.548 on Linux) and Adobe AIR to 19.0.0.241 or later. If patching is not immediately feasible, disable or restrict Flash Player content execution until updates can be applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

Flash Player: 18.0.0.261+ (18.x), 19.0.0.245+ (19.x), 11.2.202.548+ (Linux); Adobe AIR: 19.0.0.241+; Adobe AIR SDK: 19.0.0.241+; Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler: 19.0.0.241+

  1. 1. Identify the installed Adobe Flash Player version by navigating to About Flash Player in the player or checking the version in browsers
  2. 2. Identify the installed Adobe AIR version from the Add/Remove Programs list or AIR application info
  3. 3. For Flash Player on Windows/OS X: If running 18.x, upgrade to 18.0.0.261 or later; if running 19.x, upgrade to 19.0.0.245 or later
  4. 4. For Flash Player on Linux: Upgrade to 11.2.202.548 or later
  5. 5. For Adobe AIR: Upgrade to 19.0.0.241 or later
  6. 6. For Adobe AIR SDK: Upgrade to 19.0.0.241 or later
  7. 7. For Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler: Upgrade to 19.0.0.241 or later
  8. 8. Restart all browsers and applications using Flash Player after the upgrade
Caveat Upgrading Flash Player/AIR may affect compatibility with older content or require changes to dependent applications

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-2015-8043 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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