AirApplication · Adobe

CVE-2015-8433

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
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-2015-8431, CVE-2015-8432, 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. The vulnerability exists in unspecified vectors within the software before patched versions (18.0.0.268, 20.0.0.228, 11.2.202.554 for Linux, and 20.0.0.204 for AIR).

MitigationUpdate Adobe Flash Player to version 18.0.0.268/20.0.0.228 (or 11.2.202.554 on Linux) and Adobe AIR/SDK to version 20.0.0.204, or migrate away from Flash as it reaches end-of-life.

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
AirApplication
Affected:<= 19.0.0.241
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
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. Identify installed Adobe Flash Player version
    Check the Flash Player version through the About dialog in the browser or by examining the Flash plugin file version. On Windows, this is typically in the System32 directory for system-level installations or within browser plugin directories.
    Affected if The installed version is 18.0.0.261 or earlier, OR one of these specific versions: 19.0.0.185, 19.0.0.207, 19.0.0.226, or 19.0.0.245. On Linux, versions 11.2.202.548 or earlier are affected.
  2. Identify installed Adobe AIR version
    Check the Adobe AIR version through the AIR Application Installer or by examining the AIR runtime installation directory.
    Affected if The installed version is 19.0.0.241 or earlier.
  3. Identify installed Adobe AIR SDK version
    Check the Adobe AIR SDK version by examining the SDK installation directory or checking the SDK version property.
    Affected if The installed AIR SDK or AIR SDK & Compiler version is 19.0.0.241 or earlier.
  4. Determine if Flash or AIR is actively used
    Review installed browsers and applications for Adobe Flash Player plugins or Adobe AIR-based applications.
    Affected if Any of the above affected versions are installed and the software is in use.

Your environment is affected if any installation of Adobe Flash Player (versions listed above), Adobe AIR, or Adobe AIR SDK matches the vulnerable version ranges specified.

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 11.2.202.554 on Linux) and Adobe AIR/SDK to version 20.0.0.204, or migrate away from Flash as it reaches end-of-life.

Recommended fix High confidence

Flash Player: 18.0.0.268 (Windows/OS X), 11.2.202.554 (Linux); AIR/AIR SDK/AIR SDK & Compiler: 20.0.0.204

  1. Identify which Adobe product is installed: Flash Player, Adobe AIR, Adobe AIR SDK, or Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler
  2. For Flash Player on Windows/OS X: Upgrade to version 18.0.0.268 or later (19.x/20.x users should upgrade to 20.0.0.228 or later)
  3. For Flash Player on Linux: Upgrade to version 11.2.202.554 or later
  4. For Adobe AIR: Upgrade to version 20.0.0.204 or later
  5. For Adobe AIR SDK: Upgrade to version 20.0.0.204 or later
  6. For Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler: Upgrade to version 20.0.0.204 or later
  7. Download the appropriate fixed version from the official Adobe security bulletin (APSB15-32)
  8. Uninstall the current vulnerable version
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 Air Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
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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-2015-8433 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