CVE-2018-15982
CVE-2018-15982 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 15 Feb 2022, and says ransomware gangs have used it.[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 an use-after-free in Adobe Flash Player. In its words: “Adobe Flash Player com.adobe.tvsdk.mediacore.metadata Use After Free Vulnerability”[1]
The CVE record adds: “Flash Player versions 31.0.0.153 and earlier, and 31.0.0.108 and earlier have a use after free vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution.”[2]
The underlying weakness is use after free (CWE-416), in MITRE’s list of common software weaknesses.
It scores 7.8 out of 10 on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System, which rates it high, 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 15 Feb 2022, 1,124 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 15 Aug 2022 to fix it.[1] CISA says ransomware gangs have used it.
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 90%. 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 7.8.[2] | |
| CISA adds it to its catalog of flaws known to be used in attacks, noting that ransomware gangs have used it.[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 90%.[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 ·
Other use after free flaws
- CVE-2026-109619, PHP: stale internal request-state ·
- CVE-2026-109618, PHP: memory corruption ·
- CVE-2026-68820, Microsoft Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock: use-after-free ·
- CVE-2010-0249, Microsoft Internet Explorer: use-after-free ·
- CVE-2026-5281, Google Dawn: use-after-free ·
Added the same day
- CVE-2022-24086, Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source: improper input validation ·
- CVE-2022-0609, Chrome and other Chromium browsers: use-after-free ·
- CVE-2019-0752, Microsoft Internet Explorer: type confusion ·
- CVE-2018-8174, Microsoft Windows: vBScript engine out-of-bounds write ·
- CVE-2018-20250, WinRAR: absolute path traversal ·
Every Adobe flaw on CISA’s list · Everything added in February 2022
References
- ^ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. “Adobe Flash Player Use-After-Free Vulnerability”. Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, added 15 Feb 2022.
- ^ National Institute of Standards and Technology. “CVE-2018-15982 Detail”. National Vulnerability Database, published 18 Jan 2019.
- ^ Adobe. Advisories and fixes: helpx.adobe.com.
- ^ FIRST. “Exploit Prediction Scoring System”. EPSS 0.896, percentile 99.8, 31 Oct 2026.
- CVE Program. “CVE-2018-15982”. 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.