CVE-2015-8061 in Flash Player
Summary
by MITRE
Use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player before 18.0.0.268 and 19.x and 20.x before 20.0.0.228 on Windows and OS X and before 11.2.202.554 on Linux, Adobe AIR before 20.0.0.204, Adobe AIR SDK before 20.0.0.204, and Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler before 20.0.0.204 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-8048, CVE-2015-8049, CVE-2015-8050, CVE-2015-8055, CVE-2015-8056, CVE-2015-8057, CVE-2015-8058, CVE-2015-8059, CVE-2015-8062, CVE-2015-8063, CVE-2015-8064, CVE-2015-8065, CVE-2015-8066, CVE-2015-8067, CVE-2015-8068, CVE-2015-8069, CVE-2015-8070, CVE-2015-8071, CVE-2015-8401, CVE-2015-8402, CVE-2015-8403, CVE-2015-8404, CVE-2015-8405, CVE-2015-8406, CVE-2015-8410, CVE-2015-8411, CVE-2015-8412, CVE-2015-8413, CVE-2015-8414, CVE-2015-8420, CVE-2015-8421, CVE-2015-8422, CVE-2015-8423, CVE-2015-8424, CVE-2015-8425, CVE-2015-8426, CVE-2015-8427, CVE-2015-8428, CVE-2015-8429, CVE-2015-8430, CVE-2015-8431, CVE-2015-8432, CVE-2015-8433, CVE-2015-8434, CVE-2015-8435, CVE-2015-8436, CVE-2015-8437, CVE-2015-8441, CVE-2015-8442, CVE-2015-8447, CVE-2015-8448, CVE-2015-8449, CVE-2015-8450, CVE-2015-8452, and CVE-2015-8454.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/30/2022
The CVE-2015-8061 vulnerability represents a critical use-after-free flaw in Adobe Flash Player and related technologies that existed across multiple platform versions and software variants. This vulnerability falls under the broader category of memory corruption issues that can lead to arbitrary code execution, making it particularly dangerous for system security. The affected software includes Adobe Flash Player versions prior to 18.0.0.268 and 19.x and 20.x prior to 20.0.0.228 on Windows and OS X platforms, as well as older Linux versions before 11.2.202.554, along with various Adobe AIR and AIR SDK versions. The vulnerability's classification as a use-after-free condition indicates that the software attempts to access memory that has already been freed, creating a potential exploitation vector for malicious actors.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper memory management within the Flash Player runtime environment where objects are not properly validated before being accessed after deallocation. This memory corruption condition creates opportunities for attackers to manipulate the program's execution flow by controlling the freed memory location, potentially leading to privilege escalation or complete system compromise. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple code execution to include potential privilege elevation scenarios, as attackers could leverage the memory corruption to gain elevated system privileges. Security researchers have identified that this particular flaw operates through unspecified vectors that differ from several other related vulnerabilities, suggesting a unique exploitation pathway that requires specific conditions to be met for successful exploitation.
The operational impact of CVE-2015-8061 is significant across enterprise environments where Flash Player remains installed, particularly in organizations that have not yet migrated away from legacy multimedia technologies. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability through malicious web content or specially crafted files that trigger the problematic memory handling behavior when processed by the vulnerable Flash Player components. The vulnerability's presence in both desktop and mobile platforms means that organizations must consider multiple attack surfaces when assessing their security posture, as the same underlying flaw exists across different operating systems and software configurations. This cross-platform nature increases the attack surface and makes comprehensive remediation more challenging for security teams managing diverse technology environments.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigation strategies including mandatory software updates to the patched versions of Adobe Flash Player and AIR components, along with network-based security controls to block potentially malicious Flash content. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-416, which specifically addresses use-after-free conditions in software systems, and represents a classic example of how improper memory management can create persistent security risks. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to the execution and privilege escalation phases of an attack lifecycle, where adversaries leverage memory corruption to establish persistent access or elevate their privileges within the target system. Security teams should also consider implementing application whitelisting policies to restrict Flash Player execution to trusted environments and deploy network monitoring solutions to detect potential exploitation attempts through anomalous traffic patterns associated with memory corruption attacks.