CVE-2015-5119
CVE-2015-5119 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 3 Mar 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.
Description
CISA calls it an use-after-free in Adobe Flash Player. In its words: “A use-after-free vulnerability exists within the ActionScript 3 ByteArray class in Adobe Flash Player that allows an attacker to perform remote code execution.”[1]
The CVE record adds: “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.”[2]
The underlying weakness is memory buffer error (CWE-119), in MITRE’s list of common software weaknesses.
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. 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 3 Mar 2022, 2,430 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 24 Mar 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 99%. That’s in the top 1% of the flaws it scores.[3]
CISA assesses it as not automatable: each attack takes some work.
CISA doesn’t say who was attacked, or how.
Fix
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 99%.[3] |
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 ·
Other memory buffer error flaws
- CVE-2026-88779, Citrix NetScaler: improper restriction of operations within the bounds of a memory buffer ·
- CVE-2026-88772, Citrix NetScaler: improper restriction of operations within the bounds of a memory buffer ·
- CVE-2026-88771, Citrix NetScaler: improper input validation ·
- CVE-2026-8452, Citrix NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway: improper restriction of operations within the bounds of a memory buffer ·
- CVE-2025-31277, Apple devices: buffer overflow ·
Added the same day
- CVE-2022-20708, Cisco Small Business RV160, RV260, RV340, and RV345 Series Routers: small business RV series routers stack-based buffer overflow ·
- CVE-2022-20703, Cisco Small Business RV160, RV260, RV340, and RV345 Series Routers: small business RV series routers stack-based buffer overflow ·
- CVE-2022-20701, Cisco Small Business RV160, RV260, RV340, and RV345 Series Routers: small business RV series routers stack-based buffer overflow ·
- CVE-2022-20700, Cisco Small Business RV160, RV260, RV340, and RV345 Series Routers: small business RV series routers stack-based buffer overflow ·
- CVE-2022-20699, Cisco Small Business RV160, RV260, RV340, and RV345 Series Routers: small business RV series routers stack-based buffer overflow ·
Every Adobe flaw on CISA’s list · Everything added in March 2022
References
- ^ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. “Adobe Flash Player Use-After-Free Vulnerability”. Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, added 3 Mar 2022.
- ^ National Institute of Standards and Technology. “CVE-2015-5119 Detail”. National Vulnerability Database, published 8 Jul 2015.
- ^ FIRST. “Exploit Prediction Scoring System”. EPSS 0.986, percentile 99.9, 31 Oct 2026.
- CVE Program. “CVE-2015-5119”. 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.