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Vulnerabilities/CVE-2016-4171
Vulnerability dossier

CVE-2016-4171

Adobe Flash Player Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

VendoradobePublishedJun 16, 2016SourceNVD
Act now

Actively exploited in the wild. Patch or mitigate immediately — don't wait for a maintenance window.

Severity
Critical · 9.8
CVSS base score
Exploitation
In the wild
CISA KEV
Predicted risk
20% model
EPSS forecast — overtaken by confirmed exploitation
Exposure
Internet-facing
Exploitable remotely, no login, no user action
01

What's the risk?

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.

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.

How it's exploitedMITRE ATT&CK · inferred from weakness & vector
Initial Access
T1190Exploit Public-Facing Application

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.

02

Who's exploiting it?

Corroborated threat activity referencing this CVE — with source and confidence, not inference.

Confirmed exploited in the wild. CISA KEV · catalogued Mar 25, 2022

Named threat actors and observed ATT&CK techniques appear here as intel feeds are folded in — the ATT&CK chain above stays inferred until then.

03

Are we affected?

19
  • Affectedadobe · flash_playerall versions
  • Affectedadobe · flash_playerall versions
  • Affectedadobe · flash_playerall versions
  • Affectedadobe · flash_playerall versions
  • Affectedadobe · flash_playerall versions
  • Affectedadobe · flash_playerall versions
  • Affectedadobe · flash_playerall versions
  • Affectedopensuse · opensuse13.1
  • Affectedopensuse · opensuse13.2
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_desktop6.0
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_desktop5.0
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_server5.0
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_server6.0
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_workstation6.0
  • Affectedredhat · enterprise_linux_workstation
04

What to do

Generated by Wavense from the CVE record — an immediate mitigation and the permanent fix.

  1. !

    Mitigate now

    As an interim measure, disable Adobe Flash Player or configure it to 'Click-to-Play' in all browsers and applications where it's not strictly necessary. Implement strong network segmentation and egress filtering to limit potential command-and-control communications. Enhance endpoint detection and response (EDR) monitoring for unusual process activity or connections originating from Flash-related processes.

  2. ✓

    Permanent fix

    The permanent fix involves upgrading Adobe Flash Player to a version beyond 21.0.0.242 immediately. Adobe released security update APSB16-25 specifically to address this vulnerability. Ensure all installations across operating systems and web browsers (including embedded versions like those in Chrome or Microsoft Edge) are updated to the latest secure version to remove the exploitation vector.

Technical details— weakness, CVSS vector & calculator, related CVEs

Business impact

This critical vulnerability allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on an affected system via unspecified vectors, providing full control over the compromised machine. This can lead to sensitive data theft, installation of persistent malware, lateral movement within the network, and significant business disruption or reputational damage, especially as it was actively exploited in the wild.

Weakness

No CWE classification has been assigned.

CVSS 3.1 details

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
0.0
/ 10.0 base
Critical severity
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Exploitability metrics
Attack VectorAV
Remotely exploitable across a network
Attack ComplexityAC
No special conditions required
Privileges RequiredPR
No authorization needed
User InteractionUI
No user participation needed
Impact metrics
ScopeS
Impact confined to the vulnerable component
ConfidentialityC
Total loss of confidentiality
IntegrityI
Total loss of integrity
AvailabilityA
Total loss of availability

Related vulnerabilities

Other CVEs affecting flash player

NVD
9.8Critical
CVE-2019-5544KEVExploit likely

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.

vmwareCWE-787Out-of-bounds WriteNetworkLow effortNo authNo interactionCIA
2019-12-06
NVD
9.8Critical
CVE-2016-4117KEV⚙ WeaponizedExploit likely

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.

redhatNetworkLow effortNo authNo interactionCIA
2016-05-11
NVD
9.8Critical
CVE-2016-3427KEVExploit likely

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.

redhatCWE-284Improper Access ControlNetworkLow effortNo authNo interactionCIA
2016-04-21
NVD
9.8Critical
CVE-2016-1019KEV

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.

adobeNetworkLow effortNo authNo interactionCIA
2016-04-07
NVD
9.8Critical
CVE-2015-2590KEV

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.

redhatNetworkLow effortNo authNo interactionCIA
2015-07-16
NVD
9.8Critical
CVE-2015-5123KEV

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.

redhatCWE-416Use After FreeNetworkLow effortNo authNo interactionCIA
2015-07-14
NVD
9.8Critical
CVE-2015-5122KEV⚙ WeaponizedExploit likely

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.

adobeCWE-416Use After FreeNetworkLow effortNo authNo interactionCIA
2015-07-14
NVD
9.8Critical
CVE-2015-5119KEV⚙ WeaponizedExploit likely

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.

redhatCWE-416Use After FreeNetworkLow effortNo authNo interactionCIA
2015-07-08
0.0
/ 10.0 base
Critical severity
Key facts
CVE ID
CVE-2016-4171
Published
Jun 16, 2016
Last modified
Apr 21, 2026
CVSS
9.8 (v3.1)
EPSS
20.05%
In CISA KEV
Yes
Confidence
98/100
Timeline
  1. Jun 16, 2016Published to NVDNVD
  2. Apr 21, 2026Record last modifiedNVD
  3. Aug 17, 2026AI analysis generatedWavense
View on NVD
5.0
  • Affectedsuse · linux_enterprise_desktop12
  • Affectedsuse · linux_enterprise_desktop12
  • Affectedsuse · linux_enterprise_workstation_extension12
  • Affectedsuse · linux_enterprise_workstation_extension12