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CriticalCISA KEVExploited in the wildPublic exploit

Adobe Flash Player memory corruption RCE/DoS (CVE-2015-3043)

IdentifiersCVE-2015-3043CWE-119

CVE-2015-3043 is a memory corruption vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player affecting versions before 13.0.0.281, 14.x through 17.x before 17.0.0.169 on Windows and OS X, and before 11.2.202.457 on Linux. Adobe’s description states that the flaw can be triggered via unspecified vectors and may allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service. The issue was exploited in the wild in April 2015. The provided context further indicates it was used by the Sednit/APT28/Fancy Bear group, including via the Sedkit exploit kit in targeted operations. Specific vulnerable functions or code paths are not provided in the supplied content.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation can result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the affected Adobe Flash Player process, enabling full compromise of the user session subject to platform and sandbox constraints. The vulnerability can also be used to crash the process and cause denial of service due to memory corruption. In the supplied reporting, the flaw was weaponized as a zero-day in targeted intrusion activity, indicating practical exploitability for initial compromise.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

Where immediate patching or removal is not possible, disable Flash Player in browsers and applications, restrict execution of SWF content, use click-to-play, and block untrusted or Internet-delivered Flash content at email and web gateways. Reduce exposure by disabling Flash in high-risk user populations, enforcing application allowlisting, and isolating browsing activity. Because the flaw was exploited in targeted campaigns, additional mitigations include monitoring for exploit-kit delivery, phishing URLs, and suspicious browser/plugin child-process behavior.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade Adobe Flash Player to a fixed version: 13.0.0.281 or later for the 13.x branch, 17.0.0.169 or later for affected 14.x/17.x installations on Windows and OS X, and 11.2.202.457 or later on Linux. More generally, remove or fully decommission Adobe Flash Player where still present, as the product is end-of-life and unsupported. Ensure embedded/browser-bundled Flash components are also updated or removed.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType
AdobeFlash Playerapplication
NovellSuse Linux Enterprise Desktopoperating_system
NovellSuse Linux Enterprise Workstation Extensionoperating_system
OpensuseEvergreenoperating_system
OpensuseOpensuseoperating_system
Red HatEnterprise Linux Desktopoperating_system
Red HatEnterprise Linux Eusoperating_system
Red HatEnterprise Linux Serveroperating_system
Red HatEnterprise Linux Server Ausoperating_system
Red HatEnterprise Linux Server From Rhuioperating_system
Red HatEnterprise Linux Workstationoperating_system

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

This page is what’s public. Mallory adds the parts that aren’t: which of your assets are affected, which adversaries are exploiting it right now, which detections to deploy, and what to do tonight.
Exposure mapping

Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.

Threat actor evidence3

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware2

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures2

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.