Security Resilience

CVE-2014-0502

Memory Safety in Adobe Flash Player ≤ 11.7.700.269

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedPublic PoCMemory Safety
Published
21 February 2014
Modified
21 April 2026
KEV Added
17 September 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.25 98th percentile
Risk Priority 90 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2014-0502 is a high-severity Double Free (CWE-415) vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Steganography (T1001.002); ranked in the top 2% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

The vulnerability is a double free flaw (CWE-415) present in Adobe Flash Player versions before 11.7.700.269 and 11.8.x through 12.0.x before 12.0.0.70 on Windows and Mac OS X, before 11.2.202.341 on Linux, Adobe AIR before 4.0.0.1628 on Android, and the corresponding AIR SDK and Compiler packages before 4.0.0.1628. It carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 8.8.

Remote attackers can exploit the issue via unspecified vectors to achieve arbitrary code execution on affected systems. The vulnerability was exploited in the wild in February 2014 and requires user interaction such as visiting a malicious page or opening a crafted document.

Adobe's APSB14-07 bulletin and related distribution advisories (openSUSE, Red Hat) recommend immediate upgrade to the fixed versions listed above. No other mitigations such as configuration changes are specified in the references.

The flaw saw active exploitation shortly after disclosure, underscoring the need for rapid patching of Flash and AIR installations.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

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…

more

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.

CWE(s)
CWE-415
KEV Date Added
17 September 2024

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001.002 Steganography Command And Control
Adversaries may use steganographic techniques to hide command and control traffic to make detection efforts more difficult.
attack.mitre.org →
T1001.003 Protocol or Service Impersonation Command And Control
Adversaries may impersonate legitimate protocols or web service traffic to disguise command and control activity and thwart analysis efforts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.001 LSASS Memory Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credential material stored in the process memory of the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS).
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.002 Security Account Manager Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to extract credential material from the Security Account Manager (SAM) database either through in-memory techniques or through the Windows Registry where the SAM database is stored.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.004 LSA Secrets Credential Access
Adversaries with SYSTEM access to a host may attempt to access Local Security Authority (LSA) secrets, which can contain a variety of different credential materials, such as credentials for service accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.008 /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump the contents of <code>/etc/passwd</code> and <code>/etc/shadow</code> to enable offline password cracking.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2014-0497Same product: Adobe Flash Playerboth on KEV
CVE-2015-5119Same product: Adobe Flash Playerboth on KEV
CVE-2013-0641Same product: Apple Mac Os Xboth on KEV
CVE-2013-0640Same product: Apple Mac Os Xboth on KEV
CVE-2013-0648Same product: Adobe Flash Playerboth on KEV
CVE-2013-0643Same product: Adobe Flash Playerboth on KEV
CVE-2012-2034Same product: Adobe Flash Playerboth on KEV
CVE-2018-4990Same product: Apple Mac Os Xboth on KEV
CVE-2012-1535Same product: Adobe Flash Playerboth on KEV
CVE-2015-5123Same product: Adobe Flash Playerboth on KEV

Affected Assets

adobe
flash player
≤ 11.7.700.269 · 11.8.800.94 — 12.0.0.70 · ≤ 11.2.202.341
adobe
adobe air sdk
≤ 4.0.0.1628
adobe
adobe air
≤ 4.0.0.1628
opensuse
opensuse
11.4, 12.3, 13.1
suse
linux enterprise desktop
11
redhat
enterprise linux desktop
5.0, 6.0
redhat
enterprise linux eus
6.5
redhat
enterprise linux server
5.0, 6.0
redhat
enterprise linux server aus
6.5
redhat
enterprise linux workstation
5.0, 6.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 1 hardening rule · 1 OS baseline
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

—

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent double-free errors via static analysis, safe memory APIs, and testing.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.5.32 Intellectual property rights partial match
removes

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (higher-evidence rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248590 OL 8 must clear the page allocator to prevent use-after-free attacks. blocks CWE-415

References