CVE-2015-7643

Vulnerability

A use-after-free vulnerability exists in Adobe Flash Player before 18.0.0.252 and 19.x before 19.0.0.207 on Windows and OS X, before 11.2.202.535 on Linux, Adobe AIR before 19.0.0.213, and Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler before 19.0.0.213. The flaw is triggered by manipulating the deblocking property of a Video object, causing a dangling pointer to be reused after it has been freed [1][2][3].

Exploitation

Exploitation requires user interaction: the victim must visit a malicious web page or open a crafted SWF file. The attacker specifically crafts the deblocking property on a Video object to force a use-after-free condition. No additional authentication or network position is needed beyond the ability to serve the malicious content [3].

Impact

Successful exploitation allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current process (the Flash Player plugin or AIR runtime). This can lead to full compromise of the affected system, including unauthorized access, data disclosure, or further malware installation [2][3].

Mitigation

Adobe released fixes in Flash Player 18.0.0.252/19.0.0.207, AIR 19.0.0.213, and Linux Flash Player 11.2.202.535 (later 11.2.202.548). Red Hat shipped updated packages (11.2.202.548) via RHSA-2015:1893 and RHSA-2015:2024 [1][2]. Gentoo advised upgrading to >=11.2.202.548 [4]. Users should apply updates promptly; no workaround exists if unpatched.