Security Resilience

CVE-2016-0984

Memory Safety in Adobe Flash Player ≤ 20.0.0.272

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedPublic PoCMemory Safety
Published
10 February 2016
Modified
22 April 2026
KEV Added
25 May 2022
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 0.55 99.0th 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-2016-0984 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique OS Credential Dumping (T1003); ranked in the top 1.0% 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.

CVE-2016-0984 is a use-after-free vulnerability (CWE-416) affecting Adobe Flash Player versions prior to 18.0.0.329 and 19.x/20.x prior to 20.0.0.306 on Windows and OS X, prior to 11.2.202.569 on Linux, as well as Adobe AIR, AIR SDK, and AIR SDK & Compiler before 20.0.0.260. The flaw resides in the Flash runtime's handling of certain objects and can be triggered through unspecified vectors, distinct from several related memory-safety issues in the same product family.

An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit the condition by serving malicious Flash content that a victim renders in a browser or AIR application. Successful exploitation yields arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the affected process, corresponding to the observed CVSS 3.1 score of 8.8 that reflects network attack vector, low complexity, and required user interaction.

The referenced OpenSUSE and Red Hat advisories describe distribution-specific updates that replace the vulnerable Flash Player and AIR packages, thereby eliminating the affected code paths. Applying the vendor-supplied patches to the listed versions is the primary mitigation step.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player before 18.0.0.329 and 19.x and 20.x before 20.0.0.306 on Windows and OS X and before 11.2.202.569 on Linux, Adobe AIR before 20.0.0.260, Adobe AIR SDK before 20.0.0.260, and Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler before…

more

20.0.0.260 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2016-0973, CVE-2016-0974, CVE-2016-0975, CVE-2016-0982, and CVE-2016-0983.

CWE(s)
CWE-416
KEV Date Added
25 May 2022

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1003 OS Credential Dumping Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump credentials to obtain account login and credential material, normally in the form of a hash or a clear text password.
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 →
T1003.004 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 →
T1007 System Service Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may try to gather information about registered local system services.
attack.mitre.org →
T1008 Fallback Channels Command And Control
Adversaries may use fallback or alternate communication channels if the primary channel is compromised or inaccessible in order to maintain reliable command and control and to avoid data transfer thresholds.
attack.mitre.org →
T1011 Exfiltration Over Other Network Medium Exfiltration
Adversaries may attempt to exfiltrate data over a different network medium than the command and control channel.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2016-7892Same product: Adobe Flash Playerboth on KEV
CVE-2018-15982Same product: Adobe Flash Playerboth on KEV
CVE-2016-7855Same product: Adobe Flash Playerboth on KEV
CVE-2018-4878Same product: Adobe Flash Playerboth on KEV
CVE-2014-8439Same product: Adobe Air Sdkboth on KEV
CVE-2026-5281Same product: Linux Linux Kernelboth on KEV
CVE-2026-2441Same product: Linux Linux Kernelboth on KEV
CVE-2014-0496Same product: Apple Mac Os Xboth on KEV
CVE-2015-0313Same product: Adobe Flash Playerboth on KEV
CVE-2015-5123Same product: Adobe Flash Playerboth on KEV

Affected Assets

adobe
flash player
≤ 20.0.0.272 · ≤ 20.0.0.272 · ≤ 11.2.202.559
adobe
flash player desktop runtime
≤ 20.0.0.286
adobe
air desktop runtime
≤ 20.0.0.233
adobe
air sdk
≤ 20.0.0.233
adobe
air sdk \& compiler
≤ 20.0.0.233

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

SI-16 Memory Protection
addresses: CWE-416

Use-after-free exploits that achieve arbitrary code execution are blocked or significantly hardened by non-executable pages and ASLR.

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.

ID.RA-01 partial match
blocks

Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
blocks

Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.

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.5.30 ICT readiness for business continuity 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-248592 OL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. blocks CWE-416
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-230279 RHEL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. blocks CWE-416
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
  • V-257794 RHEL 9 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. blocks CWE-416

References