Flash PlayerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2015-8424

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-2015-8422, CVE-2015-8423, 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 allowing arbitrary code execution. The flaw occurs when memory is accessed after being freed, potentially enabling attackers to execute malicious code via unspecified vectors.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Flash Player to version 18.0.0.268, 20.0.0.228 or later (depending on branch), and Adobe AIR/SDK to 20.0.0.204 or later. Priority should be Critical given CVSS 10.

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:<= 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

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 in Windows browsers

Navigate to the Adobe Flash Player version check page at https://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/ or open a command prompt and run: reg query 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\Macromedia\FlashPlayer' /v Version. For 64-bit also check: reg query 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Macromedia\FlashPlayer' /v Version

Affected if The reported version is 18.0.0.261 or lower, 19.0.0.185, 19.0.0.207, 19.0.0.226, 19.0.0.245, or 11.2.202.548 or lower (Linux/Chrome version)
Check Adobe Flash Player on macOS browsers

Open Finder, navigate to /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/ and locate Flash Player.plugin. Right-click and Show Package Contents, then check Info.plist for CFBundleVersion, or use the Adobe Flash Player version check page in Safari

Affected if The reported version is 18.0.0.261 or lower, 19.0.0.185, 19.0.0.207, 19.0.0.226, 19.0.0.245, or 11.2.202.548 or lower
Check Adobe AIR version on Windows

Open Control Panel and look for Adobe AIR in the list of installed programs, or run: reg query 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\AIR' /v Version. Also check: reg query 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Adobe\AIR' /v Version

Affected if The reported version is 19.0.0.241 or lower
Check Adobe AIR SDK version

If you have the AIR SDK installed for development, locate the air-sdk-description.xml file in the SDK directory and check the version attribute, or run: air-sdk-version.bat (or .sh on Linux/Mac) if available in the SDK bin folder

Affected if The AIR SDK version is 19.0.0.241 or lower

Your environment is affected if Adobe Flash Player is version 18.0.0.261 or lower, any of the specific 19.x versions (185, 207, 226, 245), or 11.2.202.548 or lower, OR if Adobe AIR/SDK is version 19.0.0.241 or lower.

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 (depending on branch), and Adobe AIR/SDK to 20.0.0.204 or later. Priority should be Critical given CVSS 10.

Recommended fix High confidence

Flash Player 18.0.0.268 (or 20.0.0.228 for 19.x/20.x); Adobe AIR 20.0.0.204

Identify the installed Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR version (e.g., via the Add‑ons manager or ‘About’ dialog).
Open the Adobe security bulletin APSB15‑32 at https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/flash-player/apsb15-32.html and locate the patched installers for your platform.
For Flash Player: download and install version 18.0.0.268 (or version 20.0.0.228 if you are currently on the 19.x or 20.x branch). On Linux, install version 11.2.202.554.
For Adobe AIR, Adobe AIR SDK, and Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler: download and install version 20.0.0.204.
Run the installer and follow the on‑screen instructions to complete the update.
Restart any browsers or applications that use Flash Player or AIR to ensure the new runtime is loaded.
Verify the installed version matches the target version (e.g., Flash Player 18.0.0.268/20.0.0.228, AIR 20.0.0.204).

Caveat Security patch only; no major compatibility issues expected, but consider migrating away from Flash as it is end‑of‑life.

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

Fix this in Flash Player 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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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally

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Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-8424 — 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-2015-8424 in production — separate from our analysis above.

Notes0 Guidelines

Know something about CVE-2015-8424?

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

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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

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 6 hrs · Low

Typical engagement from $1,040

Get a fix See the full breakdown ↓

A high-priority vulnerability. Send your environment and a specialist will scope CVE-2015-8424 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