CVE-2015-7655

Vulnerability

A use-after-free vulnerability exists in Adobe Flash Player's actionExtends method. By manipulating arguments to this method, an attacker can cause a dangling pointer to be reused after it has been freed. This affects Flash Player versions before 18.0.0.261 and 19.x before 19.0.0.245 on Windows and OS X, before 11.2.202.548 on Linux, and Adobe AIR before 19.0.0.241 [1][2][3].

Exploitation

Exploitation requires user interaction: the victim must visit a malicious web page or open a crafted SWF file. The attacker crafts specific actionExtends arguments to trigger the use-after-free, then leverages the dangling pointer to execute arbitrary code [3].

Impact

Successful exploitation allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code within the context of the current process (the Flash Player plugin). This can lead to full system compromise, including data disclosure, further malware installation, or denial of service [2][3][4].

Mitigation

Adobe released fixed versions: Flash Player 18.0.0.261/19.0.0.245 (Windows/OS X), 11.2.202.548 (Linux), and AIR 19.0.0.241. Red Hat and Gentoo issued updates [1][2][4]. Users should update immediately. No workaround is available [4].