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Flash PlayerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2015-8420

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
Public exploit 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 18.0.0.268 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 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-8048, CVE-2015-8049, CVE-2015-8050, CVE-2015-8055, CVE-2015-8056, CVE-2015-8057, CVE-2015-8058, CVE-2015-8059, CVE-2015-8061, CVE-2015-8062, CVE-2015-8063, CVE-2015-8064, CVE-2015-8065, CVE-2015-8066, CVE-2015-8067, CVE-2015-8068, CVE-2015-8069, CVE-2015-8070, CVE-2015-8071, CVE-2015-8401, CVE-2015-8402, CVE-2015-8403, CVE-2015-8404, CVE-2015-8405, CVE-2015-8406, CVE-2015-8410, CVE-2015-8411, CVE-2015-8412, CVE-2015-8413, CVE-2015-8414, CVE-2015-8421, CVE-2015-8422, CVE-2015-8423, CVE-2015-8424, CVE-2015-8425, CVE-2015-8426, CVE-2015-8427, CVE-2015-8428, CVE-2015-8429, CVE-2015-8430, CVE-2015-8431, CVE-2015-8432, CVE-2015-8433, CVE-2015-8434, CVE-2015-8435, CVE-2015-8436, CVE-2015-8437, CVE-2015-8441, CVE-2015-8442, CVE-2015-8447, CVE-2015-8448, CVE-2015-8449, CVE-2015-8450, CVE-2015-8452, and CVE-2015-8454.

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 remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors. Affected versions include Flash Player before 18.0.0.268 and 20.x before 20.0.0.228 on Windows/OS X, before 11.2.202.554 on Linux, and AIR/SDK versions before 20.0.0.204.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Flash Player to version 18.0.0.268 / 20.0.0.228 or later, and Adobe AIR to version 20.0.0.204 or later. Remove unused Flash installations to reduce attack surface.

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:<= 18.0.0.261= 19.0.0.185= 19.0.0.207= 19.0.0.226= 19.0.0.245<= 11.2.202.548
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 Flash Player version on Windows
    Open Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Macromedia\FlashPlayer\CurrentVersion, or check the file version of C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\flash.ocx
    Affected if Version is <= 18.0.0.261, equals 19.0.0.185/207/226/245, or < 11.2.202.554 on Linux (for Linux version check) or < 20.0.0.228 for 20.x branch
  2. Check Flash Player version on macOS
    Navigate to /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/Flash Player.plugin, right-click and select Get Info, or run: defaults read /Library/Internet\ Plug-Ins/Flash\ Player.plugin/Contents/Info CFBundleVersion
    Affected if Version is <= 18.0.0.261, equals 19.0.0.185/207/226/245, or < 20.0.0.228 for 20.x branch
  3. Check Adobe AIR version on Windows
    Open Control Panel > Programs and Features, look for Adobe AIR entry, or check C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe AIR\versions.txt or the file version of runtime.exe in the AIR install folder
    Affected if Version is <= 19.0.0.241 or < 20.0.0.204
  4. Check Adobe AIR SDK version
    If AIR SDK is installed, check the version file in the SDK directory (usually named version.properties or similar), or run: adt -version if AIR Developer Tool is available
    Affected if SDK version is <= 19.0.0.241 or < 20.0.0.204
  5. Check for presence of vulnerable Flash Player
    List all Flash-related files in browser plugin directories: Chrome (C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Plugins), Firefox (about:plugins), or system-wide /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/ on Mac
    Affected if Any Flash Player plugin version matches the affected versions listed above

User is affected if Adobe Flash Player version is <= 18.0.0.261, any 19.x version, < 20.0.0.228, or < 11.2.202.554 on Linux; or if Adobe AIR/SDK version is <= 19.0.0.241 or < 20.0.0.204

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, and Adobe AIR to version 20.0.0.204 or later. Remove unused Flash installations to reduce attack surface.

Recommended fix High confidence

Flash Player 18.0.0.268+ (or 20.0.0.228+ for 19.x/20.x); AIR 20.0.0.204+; AIR SDK 20.0.0.204+; AIR SDK & Compiler 20.0.0.204+

  1. 1. Identify the installed Adobe Flash Player version by navigating to 'About Flash Player' in the Help menu or visiting adobe.com/software/flash/about
  2. 2. Identify the installed Adobe AIR version from Add/Remove Programs (Windows) or the AIR Application Installer (Mac)
  3. 3. Download the patched Flash Player version 18.0.0.268 or later (20.0.0.228 or later for 19.x/20.x) from the official Adobe download page: https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/
  4. 4. Download the patched AIR version 20.0.0.204 or later from: https://get.adobe.com/air/
  5. 5. Close all browser instances and applications using Flash or AIR
  6. 6. Uninstall the current Flash Player version via the browser's plugin management or Add/Remove Programs
  7. 7. Run the installer for the new Flash Player version
  8. 8. If using AIR SDK or AIR SDK & Compiler, download the fixed version 20.0.0.204 or later from the Adobe AIR SDK download page and update your development environment
Caveat Adobe Flash Player is deprecated and no longer supported as of December 31, 2020; consider migrating to HTML5 alternatives

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

Fix this in Flash Player Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2015-8420 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data