Actively exploited in the wild. Patch or mitigate immediately — don't wait for a maintenance window.
An unauthenticated attacker, remotely over the network, with no user interaction, can fully compromise the system — steal data, tamper with it and take it offline.
Adobe Flash Player 21.0.0.226 and earlier allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, as exploited in the wild in May 2016.
Inferred from the weakness type (CWE) and how the flaw is reached — the techniques an attacker would chain to exploit this. Real-world corroboration appears here as threat intel is folded in.
Corroborated threat activity referencing this CVE — with source and confidence, not inference.
These techniques were analysed against this CVE's real-world exploitation — the matching entries in the ATT&CK chain above are marked “observed”.
Generated by Wavense from the CVE record — an immediate mitigation and the permanent fix.
Temporarily disable Adobe Flash Player in all web browsers and applications, or configure it to use click-to-play functionality. Implement strong network egress filtering to restrict outbound connections from compromised hosts and enhance endpoint detection and response (EDR) monitoring for suspicious activity. Educate users about phishing and untrusted content, as exploits are often delivered via malicious websites.
The permanent resolution is to update Adobe Flash Player to version 21.0.0.242 or later, which addresses this critical vulnerability. Alternatively, and highly recommended given Flash's end-of-life status, completely uninstall Adobe Flash Player from all systems. Users should ensure their operating systems and browsers automatically update Flash components or manually verify its removal.
A remote attacker can achieve arbitrary code execution on vulnerable systems by exploiting this flaw, potentially gaining full control. This allows for data exfiltration, installation of further malware, and complete compromise of the affected workstation or server. The business consequences include severe data breaches, service disruption, and significant reputational damage.
No CWE classification has been assigned.
Other CVEs affecting flash player
OpenSLP as used in ESXi and the Horizon DaaS appliances has a heap overwrite issue. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Critical severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 9.8.
Unspecified vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player 21.0.0.242 and earlier allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unknown vectors, as exploited in the wild in June 2016.
Unspecified vulnerability in Oracle Java SE 6u113, 7u99, and 8u77; Java SE Embedded 8u77; and JRockit R28.3.9 allows remote attackers to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability via vectors related to JMX.
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.
Unspecified vulnerability in Oracle Java SE 6u95, 7u80, and 8u45, and Java SE Embedded 7u75 and 8u33 allows remote attackers to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability via unknown vectors related to Libraries, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-4732.
Use-after-free vulnerability in the BitmapData class in the ActionScript 3 (AS3) implementation in Adobe Flash Player 13.x through 13.0.0.302 on Windows and OS X, 14.x through 18.0.0.203 on Windows and OS X, 11.x through 11.2.202.481 on Linux, and 12.x through 18.0.0.204 on Linux Chrome installations allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via crafted Flash content that overrides a valueOf function, as exploited in the wild in July 2015.
Use-after-free vulnerability in the DisplayObject class in the ActionScript 3 (AS3) implementation in Adobe Flash Player 13.x through 13.0.0.302 on Windows and OS X, 14.x through 18.0.0.203 on Windows and OS X, 11.x through 11.2.202.481 on Linux, and 12.x through 18.0.0.204 on Linux Chrome installations allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via crafted Flash content that leverages improper handling of the opaqueBackground property, as exploited in the wild in July 2015.
Use-after-free vulnerability in the ByteArray class in the ActionScript 3 (AS3) implementation in Adobe Flash Player 13.x through 13.0.0.296 and 14.x through 18.0.0.194 on Windows and OS X and 11.x through 11.2.202.468 on Linux allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via crafted Flash content that overrides a valueOf function, as exploited in the wild in July 2015.