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Flash PlayerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2015-8408

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-12-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 19.0.0.241 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 18.0.0.268 and 19.x and 20.x before 20.0.0.228 on Windows and OS X and before 11.2.202.554 on Linux, Adobe AIR before 20.0.0.204, Adobe AIR SDK before 20.0.0.204, and Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler before 20.0.0.204 allow attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-8045, CVE-2015-8047, CVE-2015-8060, CVE-2015-8416, CVE-2015-8417, CVE-2015-8418, CVE-2015-8419, CVE-2015-8443, CVE-2015-8444, CVE-2015-8451, and CVE-2015-8455.

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

Memory corruption vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR allowing remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via unspecified vectors. This is a critical severity flaw affecting multiple product versions across Windows, OS X, and Linux platforms.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Flash Player to version 18.0.0.268, 20.0.0.228 or later (or 11.2.202.554+ on Linux), and Adobe AIR to 20.0.0.204 or later. Consider disabling Flash Player if not required.

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:<= 11.2.202.548<= 18.0.0.261= 19.0.0.185= 19.0.0.207= 19.0.0.226= 19.0.0.245
AirApplication
Affected:<= 19.0.0.241
Air SdkApplication
Affected:<= 19.0.0.241
Air Sdk \& CompilerApplication
Affected:<= 19.0.0.241

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
    Open Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Macromedia\FlashPlayer\CurrentVersion, or check the file version of flash.ocx or pepflashplayer.dll in the System32 or SysWOW64 directories
    Affected if The version string is 11.2.202.548 or lower, 18.0.0.261 or lower, or exactly 19.0.0.185, 19.0.0.207, 19.0.0.226, or 19.0.0.245
  2. Check Adobe Flash Player version on macOS or Linux
    Locate the Flash Player library file (libflashplayer.so on Linux, Flash Player.plugin on macOS) and inspect its file version or use the Flash Player version checker at adobe.com
    Affected if The installed version matches any of the affected versions listed above
  3. Check Adobe AIR version on Windows
    Open Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\AIR\Version, or check the version of the AIR application installer or the AIR runtime DLL in Program Files
    Affected if The version is 19.0.0.241 or lower
  4. Check Adobe AIR SDK or AIR SDK Compiler version
    If using the AIR SDK for development, check the version file (version.properties or similar) within the SDK installation directory
    Affected if The SDK version is 19.0.0.241 or lower
  5. Verify if Flash Player is enabled in web browsers
    Open each installed browser and check the browser's Add-ons or Extensions manager to see if the Flash Player plugin is active or enabled
    Affected if Flash Player is listed as enabled in any browser and the version is among the affected versions

You are affected if Adobe Flash Player or Adobe AIR is installed with a version matching any of the affected version ranges and the software is enabled or in use.

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 19.0.0.241
Vendor patch helpx.adobe.com →
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Flash Player to version 18.0.0.268, 20.0.0.228 or later (or 11.2.202.554+ on Linux), and Adobe AIR to 20.0.0.204 or later. Consider disabling Flash Player if not required.

Recommended fix High confidence

Flash Player: 18.0.0.268+ (18.x), 20.0.0.228+ (19.x/20.x), 11.2.202.554+ (Linux); AIR/AIR SDK/AIR SDK & Compiler: 20.0.0.204+

  1. 1. Identify the installed Adobe Flash Player version by navigating to https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player.html and checking the version displayed, or by opening Flash Player in the browser and checking About.
  2. 2. Identify the installed Adobe AIR version by opening AIR Settings or checking the installed programs list.
  3. 3. For Flash Player: Upgrade to version 18.0.0.268 or higher (18.x line), 20.0.0.228 or higher (19.x/20.x line), or 11.2.202.554 or higher (Linux 11.x line) from https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/
  4. 4. For Adobe AIR: Upgrade to version 20.0.0.204 or higher from https://get.adobe.com/air/
  5. 5. For Adobe AIR SDK: Upgrade to version 20.0.0.204 or higher from https://airsdk.harman.com/
  6. 6. Restart all browsers and applications using Flash Player or AIR after upgrading.
  7. 7. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the updated version numbers in the respective About sections.
Caveat Adobe Flash Player reached end-of-life on December 31, 2020; consider migrating to HTML5 alternatives as no further updates are available

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

Fix this in Flash Player Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2015-8408 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