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Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system · Redhat

CVE-2018-4877

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-02-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 28.0.0.161 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
A use-after-free vulnerability was discovered in Adobe Flash Player before 28.0.0.161. This vulnerability occurs due to a dangling pointer in the Primetime SDK related to media player's quality of service functionality. A successful attack can lead to arbitrary code execution.

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

This is a use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player's Primetime SDK, specifically in the media player's quality of service functionality. The vulnerability stems from a dangling pointer that persists after memory is freed, allowing an attacker to manipulate the freed memory and achieve arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Flash Player to version 28.0.0.161 or later; if Flash Player cannot be updated due to end-of-life status, remove it entirely or implement compensating controls such as network segmentation and application whitelisting.

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
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 6.0
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
Affected:= 6.0
Enterprise Linux WorkstationOperating system
Affected:= 6.0
Flash PlayerApplication
Affected:< 28.0.0.161

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. Verify if Adobe Flash Player is installed
    Check for the presence of Flash Player NPAPI plugin. On Windows: look for 'C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash' folder or check Add/Remove Programs. On Linux: check /usr/lib/flash-plugin or /opt/flash-player. On macOS: check /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/Flash Player.plugin
    Affected if Adobe Flash Player is present on the system
  2. Determine installed Adobe Flash Player version
    Open a web browser and navigate to 'about:flash' in the address bar, or visit Adobe's version check page at https://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/, or check the file version property of the Flash DLL (e.g., NPSWF32.dll or FlashPlayerPlugin_*.exe)
    Affected if The displayed version is earlier than 28.0.0.161 (any version < 28.0.0.161)
  3. Check for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0 with Flash Player
    On RHEL systems, run 'cat /etc/redhat-release' to confirm the OS version, then check for installed Flash packages using 'rpm -qa | grep -i flash' or 'dpkg -l | grep -i flash'
    Affected if Running Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop, Server, or Workstation version 6.0 AND Adobe Flash Player is installed
  4. Verify Primetime SDK component presence
    This vulnerability exists in the Primetime SDK quality of service module bundled with Flash Player. Confirm Flash Player is the Primetime-enabled variant by examining the installed Flash package details or DLL metadata
    Affected if Any installed version of Adobe Flash Player below 28.0.0.161 contains the affected Primetime SDK component

You are affected if Adobe Flash Player version 28.0.0.161 or later is NOT installed, or if running RHEL 6.0 with any version of Flash Player present.

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 28.0.0.161 or later
Fixed in 28.0.0.161
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Flash Player to version 28.0.0.161 or later; if Flash Player cannot be updated due to end-of-life status, remove it entirely or implement compensating controls such as network segmentation and application whitelisting.

Recommended fix High confidence

Flash Player 28.0.0.161 or later (flash-plugin package)

  1. 1. Check the current Flash Player version by navigating to 'https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player.html' or typing 'about:flash' in a browser address bar
  2. 2. For Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems: Run 'sudo yum update flash-plugin' to update to the latest available version
  3. 3. For Debian/Ubuntu systems: Run 'sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install flashplugin-installer' or 'adobe-flashplugin'
  4. 4. Verify the installation completed successfully by checking the Flash Player version again
  5. 5. Restart any running browsers to ensure the new Flash Player plugin is loaded
  6. 6. As a long-term security measure, consider disabling or removing Flash Player entirely since it has reached end-of-life and poses ongoing security risks
Caveat Flash Player reached end-of-life on December 31, 2020 and is no longer supported; upgrading addresses this specific CVE but leaves systems with deprecated software

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

Fix this in Enterprise Linux Desktop Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2018-4877 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