CVE-2014-0502 in Flash Player
Summary
by MITRE
Double free vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player before 11.7.700.269 and 11.8.x through 12.0.x before 12.0.0.70 on Windows and Mac OS X and before 11.2.202.341 on Linux, Adobe AIR before 4.0.0.1628 on Android, Adobe AIR SDK before 4.0.0.1628, and Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler before 4.0.0.1628 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, as exploited in the wild in February 2014.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/22/2026
The CVE-2014-0502 vulnerability represents a critical double free memory corruption flaw in Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR implementations across multiple platforms. This vulnerability stems from improper memory management practices where the same memory block gets freed twice, creating a condition that can be exploited by malicious actors to gain arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability affects a wide range of Adobe products including Flash Player versions prior to 11.7.700.269 and 11.8.x through 12.0.x before 12.0.0.70 on Windows and Mac OS X platforms, as well as older Linux versions before 11.2.202.341. Additionally, the vulnerability impacts Adobe AIR versions before 4.0.0.1628 on Android devices and various SDK versions across platforms.
The technical nature of this double free vulnerability places it firmly within CWE-415, which categorizes improper deallocation of memory resources. The flaw occurs when the Flash Player or AIR runtime encounters specific malformed input or crafted content that triggers a memory deallocation sequence where the same memory pointer is freed twice. This creates a heap corruption condition that can be manipulated by attackers to overwrite critical memory structures or inject malicious code into the execution flow. The exploitation mechanism leverages the predictable nature of heap memory layouts and the ability to control memory allocation patterns through crafted Flash content, making it particularly dangerous in web browser contexts where users may encounter malicious content without their knowledge.
The operational impact of this vulnerability was severe and widespread, as evidenced by its exploitation in the wild during February 2014. Attackers could craft malicious Flash content that would be delivered through web browsers, email attachments, or other vectors that leveraged the Flash Player's runtime environment. Once executed, the vulnerability allowed remote attackers to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the Flash Player process, typically resulting in full system compromise. The widespread adoption of Flash Player across Windows and Mac OS X platforms meant that this vulnerability had massive potential impact, affecting millions of users globally. The cross-platform nature of the vulnerability, spanning multiple operating systems and Adobe products, made it particularly attractive to threat actors seeking maximum exploitation coverage.
Security mitigations for CVE-2014-0502 primarily focused on immediate patching and application of vendor-supplied updates. Adobe released security updates addressing this vulnerability across all affected versions of Flash Player and AIR, requiring users to upgrade to patched versions immediately. Organizations implementing defensive measures typically employed browser security enhancements including disabling Flash Player entirely, implementing content filtering systems, and deploying intrusion detection systems to monitor for exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's characteristics align with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for command and control communication, as exploited code often established persistence mechanisms. Network security teams also implemented sandboxing measures and privilege separation to limit the potential damage from successful exploitation attempts, while security monitoring systems were enhanced to detect anomalous memory allocation patterns that might indicate heap corruption attempts.