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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 24 Mar 2022. Known ransomware use
Flash Player Desktop RuntimeApplication · Adobe

CVE-2016-1019

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2016-04-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 21.0.0.197 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Ransomware 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
Adobe Flash Player 21.0.0.197 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, as exploited in the wild in April 2016.

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

Memory corruption vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player versions 21.0.0.197 and earlier that allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service. Actively exploited in the wild in April 2016.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Flash Player to a version newer than 21.0.0.197, or migrate away from Flash as it has reached end-of-life and should be removed or disabled.

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 Player Desktop RuntimeApplication
Affected:<= 21.0.0.197
Flash PlayerApplication
Affected:<= 18.0.0.333<= 21.0.0.197<= 11.2.202.577
Air Desktop RuntimeApplication
Affected:<= 21.0.0.176
Air SdkApplication
Affected:<= 21.0.0.176
Air Sdk \& CompilerApplication
Affected:<= 21.0.0.176

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:3.1/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 if Adobe Flash Player is installed
    Open a web browser and navigate to a version check page (such as about:plugins or use Adobe's version check), or check Program Files for Flash Player installation on Windows
    Affected if Flash Player is present on the system
  2. Determine installed Flash Player version number
    In Internet Explorer, go to Tools > Manage Add-ons > Shockwave Flash Object and note the version. In Chrome, type chrome://components/ in the address bar. On Firefox, go to Add-ons > Plugins. Alternatively, right-click on Flash content and select 'About Adobe Flash Player'.
    Affected if The displayed version falls within these ranges: <= 21.0.0.197, <= 18.0.0.333, or <= 11.2.202.577
  3. Check for Adobe Air Desktop Runtime
    Look for Adobe Air in Add/Remove Programs (Windows) or Applications folder (Mac), or check for Air applications installed on the system
    Affected if Adobe Air Desktop Runtime version <= 21.0.0.176 is installed
  4. Check for Adobe Air SDK or Compiler
    Search for Air SDK installations in development environments or system directories where SDKs are commonly stored
    Affected if Adobe Air SDK or Adobe Air SDK & Compiler version <= 21.0.0.176 is installed

If Flash Player version is <= 21.0.0.197, <= 18.0.0.333, or <= 11.2.202.577, OR Adobe Air is <= 21.0.0.176, the system is vulnerable and at high risk due to active exploitation.

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 21.0.0.197
Vendor patch docs.microsoft.com →
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Flash Player to a version newer than 21.0.0.197, or migrate away from Flash as it has reached end-of-life and should be removed or disabled.

Recommended fix High confidence

Flash Player 21.0.0.198+ (21.x branch) or 18.0.0.334+ (18.x branch) or 11.2.202.616+ (11.2 branch); AIR 21.0.0.197+

  1. Identify the exact Flash Player or AIR version currently installed on the system
  2. For Flash Player Desktop Runtime (21.x branch): Upgrade to version 21.0.0.198 or later
  3. For Flash Player Desktop Runtime (18.x branch): Upgrade to version 18.0.0.334 or later
  4. For Flash Player (11.2.x branch): Upgrade to version 11.2.202.616 or later
  5. For Air Desktop Runtime: Upgrade to version 21.0.0.197 or later
  6. For Air Sdk and Air Sdk & Compiler: Upgrade to version 21.0.0.197 or later
  7. Verify the installation by checking About Adobe Flash Player or AIR in the system
Caveat Flash Player is deprecated and no longer supported as of December 2020; consider migrating away from Flash-based applications

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

Fix this in Flash Player Desktop Runtime Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

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-2016-1019 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