Flash PlayerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2015-8422

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

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-2015-8420, CVE-2015-8421, 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

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player and AIR allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors. The flaw occurs when memory is freed but the application still attempts to access it, enabling memory corruption and potential code execution.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Flash Player to version 18.0.0.268, 20.0.0.228 or later (per branch), or Adobe AIR to 20.0.0.204 or later. Alternatively, disable or remove Flash Player given its end-of-life status.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions

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

Air SdkApplication

Affected:<= 19.0.0.241

Air Sdk \& CompilerApplication

Affected:<= 19.0.0.241

AirApplication

Affected:<= 19.0.0.241

CVSS breakdown

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?

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

Check Adobe Flash Player version on Windows

Open Control Panel > Programs and Features, or check C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\ for the Flash player installer. Alternatively, visit https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player.html or run 'Get-ItemProperty' in PowerShell for version info

Affected if Installed version is 11.2.202.548 or earlier, 18.0.0.261 or earlier, or exactly 19.0.0.185, 19.0.0.207, 19.0.0.226, or 19.0.0.245
Check Adobe Flash Player version on macOS

Navigate to /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Flash Player/ or check the browser's plugin information. On Safari, go to Safari > Preferences > Security > Manage Website Settings > Plug-ins

Affected if Installed version is 11.2.202.548 or earlier, 18.0.0.261 or earlier, or exactly 19.0.0.185, 19.0.0.207, 19.0.0.226, or 19.0.0.245
Check Adobe AIR version on Windows

Open Control Panel > Programs and Features and look for Adobe AIR, or check the installation directory typically at C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe AIR\Versions\1.0 for version info

Affected if Installed version is 19.0.0.241 or earlier
Check Adobe AIR version on macOS

Open Finder > Applications and check the Adobe AIR Installer.app info, or check the version at /Library/Application Support/Adobe/AIR/

Affected if Installed version is 19.0.0.241 or earlier
Check Adobe AIR SDK version

If using the AIR SDK for development, open the AIR SDK descriptor file or run 'air-sdk-version' command if available in the SDK bin directory

Affected if SDK version is 19.0.0.241 or earlier

You are affected if any installed Adobe Flash Player matches the specific version ranges or if Adobe AIR/SDK is version 19.0.0.241 or earlier.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Remediation

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 (per branch), or Adobe AIR to 20.0.0.204 or later. Alternatively, disable or remove Flash Player given its end-of-life status.

Recommended fix High confidence

Flash Player 20.0.0.228 (or 18.0.0.268/11.2.202.554 for older branches); AIR 20.0.0.204

Identify currently installed Adobe Flash Player and/or Adobe AIR version from system
Navigate to Adobe Security Bulletin APSB15-32: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/flash-player/apsb15-32.html
Download the appropriate fixed version based on your OS and current version: Flash Player 20.0.0.228 (Windows/OS X), 18.0.0.268, or 11.2.202.554 (Linux)
For AIR users: Download Adobe AIR 20.0.0.204 or AIR SDK 20.0.0.204
Close all browser instances and applications using Flash Player
Run the installer for the downloaded fixed version
Verify the installed version matches the fixed release

Caveat Adobe Flash Player reached end-of-life on December 31, 2020 and should be uninstalled; if upgrade path is blocked, consider removing Flash Player entirely as no further patches will be available

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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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally

dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-8422 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

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References

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-8422 in production — separate from our analysis above.

Notes0 Guidelines

Know something about CVE-2015-8422?

The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.

The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
A config change or rule that shut the vector down
A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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

At a glance

A fix existsUpgrade to after 19.0.0.241 or later

Severity 10.0 High

Exploit likelihood EPSS, next 30 days 43.4%

Affects: Flash Player

Remediation

A high-priority fix

Fix this in Flash Player 18 hrs · Moderate

Typical engagement from $3,200

Get a fix See the full breakdown ↓

A high-priority vulnerability. Send your environment and a specialist will scope CVE-2015-8422 and return a fixed quote and timeline.

You’ll deal with our team directly and deploy the reviewed fix to staging first — never straight to production.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Check your environment

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.

Scan for this in your stack

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Practitioner notes

No notes yet

Official description

Technical summary

Affected products & versions

CVSS breakdown

Am I affected?

Remediation

References