Adobe Flash Player Use-After-Free Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2015-0313) Security Advisory
Executive & SecOps Summary
SECOPS ASSESSMENTAdobe Flash Player before 13.0.0.269, 14.x through 16.x before 16.0.0.305 on Windows and OS X, and before 11.2.202.442 on Linux
Remote attackers can execute arbitrary code (RCE) and gain full system control via specially crafted malicious Flash content (SWF) without user interaction
Since Adobe Flash Player has reached End-of-Life (EOL), the only secure mitigation is to completely uninstall Flash Player from all systems
Affected Products & Version Scope
Remediation & Live Workaround Commands
PATCH & WORKAROUND1. Official Patch & Version Upgrade Commands
Because Adobe Flash Player is officially End-of-Life (EOL), no further security patches will be released. The recommended action is complete removal. Use the following PowerShell script to silently remove legacy Flash Player components on Windows systems.
# Forcefully uninstall standalone Adobe Flash Player via PowerShell
$FlashApp = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product | Where-Object { $_.Name -like '*Adobe Flash Player*' }
if ($FlashApp) {
Write-Host "Uninstalling legacy Flash Player: $($FlashApp.Name)..."
$FlashApp.Uninstall() | Out-Null
} else {
Write-Host 'No standalone Adobe Flash Player installation detected via WMI.'
}2. Temporary Workaround & Hardening Configuration
If immediate uninstallation is not feasible due to legacy dependencies, enforce strict browser policies to block Flash execution. Below is an Nginx configuration snippet to block incoming requests attempting to fetch SWF files, mitigating potential delivery vectors.
# Block access to Flash SWF files at the reverse proxy level
location ~* \.swf$ {
deny all;
access_log off;
log_not_found off;
}3. Log Audit & IoC Verification Commands
Run the following command on Windows endpoints to scan for active Flash Player ActiveX or NPAPI/PPAPI plugin DLLs that may still be registered in the system.
# Scan Windows System32 and SysWOW64 for remaining Flash Player DLLs
Write-Host 'Scanning for active Flash Player DLLs...'
Get-ChildItem -Path 'C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\', 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\' -Filter '*.dll' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | ForEach-Object {
Write-Warning "Vulnerable Flash DLL found: $($_.FullName) (Version: $($_.VersionInfo.FileVersion))"
}Block Kernel Privilege Escalation & Ransomware Payloads Before You Can Reboot
Protect unpatched Windows, Linux, and macOS workloads against in-memory exploitation and lateral movement with autonomous EDR.
Technical Root Cause & Exploitation Mechanics
1. Vulnerability Overview & Root Cause
This vulnerability (CVE-2015-0313) is a critical Use-After-Free (UAF) flaw residing within the memory management of Adobe Flash Player. The root cause lies in the improper synchronization between the ActionScript 3.0 ByteArray object and the multi-threading Worker class. When a shared ByteArray buffer is freed by one thread (Worker) but still referenced by another thread, the application attempts to access the deallocated memory address, leading to memory corruption.
2. Exploitation Mechanics & Attack Scenario
An attacker exploits this vulnerability by hosting a malicious SWF file containing crafted ActionScript code: 1) The exploit initializes a ByteArray object shared between the main thread and a background Worker thread. 2) The background thread releases the memory backing the ByteArray (e.g., via explicit clearing or manipulation of the buffer size). 3) Before the garbage collector reclaims the memory or immediately after deallocation, the main thread attempts to read or write to the freed memory space. 4) By carefully timing this race condition, the attacker populates the freed memory with a fake object structure, overwriting the virtual function table (vtable) pointer to hijack the execution flow and execute arbitrary shellcode.
3. Infrastructure & Business Impact
This vulnerability was actively exploited in the wild as a zero-day in February 2015. Attackers utilized malvertising campaigns on high-traffic websites to deliver drive-by downloads to unsuspecting users. Successful exploitation allows complete compromise of the endpoint, enabling attackers to establish persistence, pivot laterally within the corporate network, and deploy ransomware or exfiltrate sensitive business data.
Official Vendor Advisories & References
Use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player before 13.0.0.269 and 14.x through 16.x before 16.0.0.305 on Windows and OS X and before 11.2.202.442 on Linux allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, as exploited in the wild in February 2015, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-0315, CVE-2015-0320, and CVE-2015-0322.
Frequently Asked SecOps Questions (CVE-2015-0313)
FAQQ1. How critical is CVE-2015-0313 and is it actively exploited in the wild?
CVE-2015-0313 is rated CVSS 9.8 (CRITICAL) with a 30-day EPSS exploitation probability of 95.3%. It is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, requiring immediate emergency remediation.
Q2. Which vendors and products are affected by CVE-2015-0313?
Primary impacted vendors include adobe across flash_player. Scope summary: Windows and OS X: Adobe Flash Player before 13.0.0.269, 14.x through 16.x before 16.0.0.305 / Linux: before 11.2.202.442
Q3. What temporary mitigations or workarounds exist for CVE-2015-0313 before patching?
[Mitigation] Since Adobe Flash Player has reached End-of-Life (EOL), the only secure mitigation is to completely uninstall Flash Player from all systems Follow the CLI remediation commands and interactive SecOps checklist on this page to restrict exposure prior to your maintenance window.
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