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Flash PlayerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2016-0959

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-06-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 20.0.0.235 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 Desktop Runtime before 20.0.0.267, Adobe Flash Player Extended Support Release before 18.0.0.324, Adobe Flash Player for Google Chrome before 20.0.0.267, Adobe Flash Player for Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer 11 before 20.0.0.267, Adobe Flash Player for Internet Explorer 10 and 11 before 20.0.0.267, Adobe Flash Player for Linux before 11.2.202.559, AIR Desktop Runtime before 20.0.0.233, AIR SDK before 20.0.0.233, AIR SDK & Compiler before 20.0.0.233, AIR for Android before 20.0.0.233.

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 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted Flash content. The vulnerability occurs when the software continues to use memory after it has been freed, enabling potential memory manipulation and code execution.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Flash Player to version 20.0.0.267 or later (or respective patched versions for AIR products), or remove/disable Flash as it is deprecated and no longer supported.

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:<= 20.0.0.235<= 20.0.0.228
Flash Player Extended Support ReleaseApplication
Affected:<= 18.0.0.268
Flash Player For LinuxApplication
Affected:<= 11.2.202.554
AirApplication
Affected:<= 20.0.0.204
Air Sdk \& CompilerApplication
Affected:<= 20.0.0.204
Air SdkApplication
Affected:<= 20.0.0.204

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 for installed Adobe Flash Player on Windows
    Open Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Macromedia\FlashPlayer\CurrentVersion, or check the version via the Flash Player help about dialog
    Affected if The installed version number is 20.0.0.235 or earlier, or 20.0.0.228 or earlier, or any version 18.x at 0.0.268 or earlier for the Extended Support Release
  2. Check for installed Adobe Flash Player on macOS
    Locate /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Flash Player/ and check the version file, or check via the Flash Player about dialog in a browser
    Affected if The installed version matches the Windows criteria above
  3. Check for installed Adobe Flash Player on Linux
    Check the installed RPM/DEB package version using 'rpm -q flash-player' or 'dpkg -l flash-player'
    Affected if The version is 11.2.202.554 or earlier
  4. Check for installed Adobe AIR
    On Windows check HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\AIR\Version, on macOS check /Library/Application Support/Adobe/AIR/versions.xml, or use 'air -version' from command line if available
    Affected if The AIR version is 20.0.0.204 or earlier
  5. Verify if Flash or AIR is actively enabled in browsers or applications
    Check browser add-on/plugin settings for Adobe Flash Player, or check if Adobe AIR applications are installed and running
    Affected if Flash Player or Adobe AIR is enabled and the version falls within the affected ranges above

A user is affected if Adobe Flash Player version is 20.0.0.235 or earlier (including 20.0.0.228 and below), Extended Support Release 18.0.0.268 or earlier, Linux 11.2.202.554 or earlier, or Adobe AIR version 20.0.0.204 or earlier is installed and enabled.

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 20.0.0.235
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Flash Player to version 20.0.0.267 or later (or respective patched versions for AIR products), or remove/disable Flash as it is deprecated and no longer supported.

Recommended fix High confidence

Flash Player 20.0.0.267+ (Desktop Runtime), 18.0.0.324+ (Extended Support), 11.2.202.559+ (Linux); AIR 20.0.0.233+

  1. Identify the specific Adobe Flash Player or AIR product and version currently installed
  2. For Flash Player Desktop Runtime: upgrade to version 20.0.0.267 or later
  3. For Flash Player Extended Support Release: upgrade to version 18.0.0.324 or later
  4. For Flash Player for Linux: upgrade to version 11.2.202.559 or later
  5. For AIR Desktop Runtime: upgrade to version 20.0.0.233 or later
  6. For AIR SDK / AIR SDK & Compiler: upgrade to version 20.0.0.233 or later
  7. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds the fixed release after upgrade
Caveat Adobe Flash Player reached end-of-life in December 2020 and is no longer supported; consider migrating away from Flash-based applications

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

Fix this in Flash Player Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,770
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,832.

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-2016-0959 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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