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Flash PlayerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2015-8431

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-2015-8420, 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-2015-8432, 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 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors. The flaw occurs when the software improperly manages memory, allowing freed memory to be accessed after being deallocated.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Flash Player to version 18.0.0.268 or later (20.0.0.228+ for versions 19.x/20.x), and Adobe AIR to version 20.0.0.204 or later. Alternatively, disable or remove Flash Player and Adobe AIR if no longer needed.

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\Version (or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Macromedia\FlashPlayer for 64-bit systems). Read the Version value.
    Affected if The version number 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 via browser
    Visit the Adobe Flash Player version check page at about:flash (for Firefox) or open the Flash configuration panel (Windows: mmc, add Snap-in for Flash).
    Affected if The reported version matches any of the affected versions listed above.
  3. Check Adobe AIR installation on Windows
    Open Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Adobe AIR. Read the DisplayVersion value.
    Affected if The version is 19.0.0.241 or lower.
  4. Check Adobe AIR SDK installation
    Locate the AIR SDK directory (commonly in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe AIR SDK or C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Adobe\AIR). Open the AIR SDK Readme.txt or version.xml file to identify the SDK version.
    Affected if The SDK version is 19.0.0.241 or lower.

If any installed Adobe Flash Player, Adobe AIR, or Adobe AIR SDK version falls within the affected ranges, the environment is vulnerable to CVE-2015-8431.

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 or later (20.0.0.228+ for versions 19.x/20.x), and Adobe AIR to version 20.0.0.204 or later. Alternatively, disable or remove Flash Player and Adobe AIR if no longer needed.

Recommended fix High confidence

Flash Player 18.0.0.268 (or 20.0.0.228+ for 19.x/20.x branches), 11.2.202.554 for Linux; Adobe AIR/AIR SDK/AIR SDK & Compiler 20.0.0.204

  1. 1. Identify the installed Adobe Flash Player version by navigating to 'About Flash Player' in the right-click context menu or visiting the version check page
  2. 2. For Flash Player on Windows/OS X: If version is <= 18.0.0.261 or equals 19.0.0.185/19.0.0.207, upgrade to version 18.0.0.268 or higher (or 20.0.0.228+ for 19.x/20.x branches)
  3. 3. For Flash Player on Linux: If version is <= 11.2.202.548, upgrade to version 11.2.202.554 or later
  4. 4. For Adobe AIR: If version is <= 19.0.0.241, upgrade to version 20.0.0.204 or later
  5. 5. For Adobe AIR SDK or AIR SDK & Compiler: If version is <= 19.0.0.241, upgrade to version 20.0.0.204 or later
  6. 6. Download the appropriate fixed version from the official Adobe security bulletin at https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/flash-player/apsb15-32.html
  7. 7. Close all browser instances using Flash Player before installing the update
  8. 8. Install the update and restart browsers
Caveat Adobe Flash Player reached end-of-life on December 31, 2020; consider migrating away from Flash-based content

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

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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-2015-8431 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
  • 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