CVE-2015-0311
CVE-2015-0311 is a security flaw in Adobe Flash Player, Adobe’s discontinued browser plug-in for animation and video. Attackers can run their own code on Adobe Flash Player. The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) added it to its catalog of flaws known to be used in attacks on 13 Apr 2022.[1]
Adobe Flash Player is in things households have, such as phones, computers, browsers and everyday apps, so the fix matters at home as much as at work. Adobe has published a fix or advice.
Description
CISA calls it a remote code execution in Adobe Flash Player. In its words: “Unspecified vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player allows remote attackers to execute code.”[1]
The CVE record adds: “Unspecified vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player through 13.0.0.262 and 14.x, 15.x, and 16.x through 16.0.0.287 on Windows and OS X and through 11.2.202.438 on Linux allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unknown vectors, as exploited in the wild in January 2015.”[2]
It scores 9.8 out of 10 on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System, which rates it critical, scored by NVD using CVSS 3.1.[2]
Affected versions
NVD’s record doesn’t list version ranges for it; Adobe’s advisory has them[3]. CISA names the product as Adobe Flash Player.
Every device with Adobe Flash Player needs the update.
Exploitation
CISA added it to its catalog of known exploited vulnerabilities on 13 Apr 2022, 2,637 days after it was made public. CISA lists a flaw only when it has reliable evidence of it being exploited, and gave US federal agencies until 4 May 2022 to fix it.[1]
FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System, which estimates how likely a flaw is to be used in attacks in the next 30 days from what it sees across the internet, puts it at 86%. That’s in the top 1% of the flaws it scores.[4]
CISA assesses it as not automatable: each attack takes some work.
CISA doesn’t say who was attacked, or how.
Fix
Adobe has published a fix or advice.[3] CISA’s required action: “The impacted product is end-of-life and should be disconnected if still in use.”[1]
- Update Adobe Flash Player now.Install the latest update from Adobe on every device that has it, and restart when asked. Then turn on automatic updates, so the next fix arrives on its own.
- If there’s no update, stop using it.CISA’s advice when a flaw being used in attacks has no fix is to stop using the product until it does.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| The flaw is made public in the National Vulnerability Database, with a severity score of 9.8.[2] | |
| CISA adds it to its catalog of flaws known to be used in attacks.[1] | |
| CISA’s deadline for US government agencies to fix it.[1] | |
| FIRST puts the odds of it being used in attacks in the next 30 days at 86%.[4] |
See also
Other Adobe Flash Player flaws
- CVE-2014-0502: double free vulnerablity ·
- CVE-2014-0497: integer underflow vulnerablity ·
- CVE-2013-0648: code execution ·
- CVE-2013-0643: incorrect default permissions ·
- CVE-2012-5054: integer overflow ·
- CVE-2012-0767: cross-site scripting (XSS) ·
Other Adobe flaws
- CVE-2026-48356, Adobe Commerce and Magento: unrestricted upload of file with dangerous type ·
- CVE-2026-71362, Adobe Commerce and Magento: incorrect authorization ·
- CVE-2026-75650, Adobe Commerce and Magento: improper neutralization of special elements used in a template engine ·
- CVE-2026-48282, Adobe ColdFusion: path traversal ·
- CVE-2009-3459, Adobe Acrobat and Reader: heap-based buffer overflow ·
Similar flaws
- CVE-2026-111357, Ivanti Connect Secure: missing authentication for critical function ·
- CVE-2026-97229, GitLab Community Edition and Enterprise Edition: integer overflow or wraparound ·
- CVE-2026-76418, Cisco Secure Firewall ASA Software and Cisco Secure FTD Software: unchecked return value to NULL pointer dereference ·
- CVE-2026-111497, Google Brotli: unchecked return value ·
- CVE-2026-109619, PHP: stale internal request-state ·
Added the same day
- CVE-2022-24521, Microsoft Windows: CLFS driver privilege escalation ·
- CVE-2018-7602, Drupal Core: remote code execution ·
- CVE-2018-20753, Kaseya Virtual System/Server Administrator (VSA): VSA remote code execution ·
- CVE-2015-5123, Adobe Flash Player: use-after-free ·
- CVE-2015-5122, Adobe Flash Player: use-after-free ·
Every Adobe flaw on CISA’s list · Everything added in April 2022
References
- ^ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. “Adobe Flash Player Remote Code Execution Vulnerability”. Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, added 13 Apr 2022.
- ^ National Institute of Standards and Technology. “CVE-2015-0311 Detail”. National Vulnerability Database, published 23 Jan 2015.
- ^ Adobe. Advisories and fixes: technet.microsoft.com.
- ^ FIRST. “Exploit Prediction Scoring System”. EPSS 0.856, percentile 99.7, 31 Oct 2026.
- CVE Program. “CVE-2015-0311”. The official CVE record.
This article is built from CISA’s catalog (version 2026.10.30), NVD’s record and FIRST’s scores, kept in HARD’s database and checked every morning. The plain English is HARD’s.