CVE-2018-15982
Memory Safety in Adobe Flash Player ≤ 31.0.0.153
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2018-15982 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique OS Credential Dumping (T1003); ranked in the top 0.2% 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.
Adobe Flash Player versions 31.0.0.153 and earlier, along with versions 31.0.0.108 and earlier, contain a use-after-free vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-15982 and assigned CWE-416. The flaw resides in the Flash Player component and can result in arbitrary code execution when triggered, with a CVSS 3.1 score of 7.8 reflecting high impact across confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Exploitation requires local access with low complexity and no privileges, but depends on user interaction such as opening a malicious file. An attacker who succeeds can execute arbitrary code on the target system.
Adobe security bulletin APSB18-42 and the associated Red Hat errata RHSA-2018:3795 describe the availability of patches that remediate the issue in supported Flash Player releases.
Public proof-of-concept code for the vulnerability has been posted to Exploit-DB.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2018-7838
Vulnerability Data
Flash Player versions 31.0.0.153 and earlier, and 31.0.0.108 and earlier have a use after free vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution.
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 15 February 2022
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
—
—
- 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
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.
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.
Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.
Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.
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.
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