NVD / CVE Program· CNA adobe

CVE-2016-4229: Use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player before 18.0.0.366 and 19.x through 22.x before 22.0.0.209 on Windows and OS X and before…

HighCVSS 8.8 · v3.1—Proof of concept No fix recorded

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Plan (action score 45/100)

Public proof-of-concept code exists (Exploit-DB); there is no record of exploitation in the wild.
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 32.4% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 98.3% of all records.
Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. A user must open a link or visit a page. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
According to the record, no fixed version is available yet.

Add it to your regular patch cycle. Update when a fix is released; follow the vendor's advisory.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

Use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player before 18.0.0.366 and 19.x through 22.x before 22.0.0.209 on Windows and OS X and before 11.2.202.632 on Linux allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, a different vulnerability than CVE-2016-4173, CVE-2016-4174, CVE-2016-4222, CVE-2016-4226, CVE-2016-4227, CVE-2016-4228, CVE-2016-4230, CVE-2016-4231, and CVE-2016-4248.

BDU:2016-01746

Published: Jul 12, 2016
Updated: Jun 16, 2026
EPSS: 32.4% · 98th percentile
CWE: CWE-416

Report tools

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Action score

Plan

Add it to your regular patch cycle.

CVSS: 35 / 40 · 8.8 / 10
CISA KEV: 0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS: 10 / 30 · 32.4%

Get told when this record changes

Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
Proof of concept exists, no weaponized module
No fixed version yet

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Is your version affected? Check it

Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

Vendor	Product	CPE
adobe	flash player desktop runtime	cpe:2.3:a:adobe:flash_player_desktop_runtime
adobe	flash player	cpe:2.3:a:adobe:flash_player
apple	mac os x	cpe:2.3:o:apple:mac_os_x
microsoft	windows	cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows
google	chrome os	cpe:2.3:o:google:chrome_os
linux	linux kernel	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel
microsoft	windows 10	cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10
microsoft	windows 8.1	cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_8.1

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

adobe flash playerup to 18.0.0.360 inclusive
adobe flash playerup to 22.0.0.192 inclusive
adobe flash playerup to 11.2.202.626 inclusive
adobe flash player desktop runtimeup to 22.0.0.192 inclusive

Same product

adobe: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

CVE-2016-1019Adobe Flash Player 21.0.0.197 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly execute…KEV
76This week
CVE-2016-7892Adobe Flash Player versions 23.0.0.207 and earlier, 11.2.202.644 and earlier have an exploitable use after free vulnerability in the…KEV
71This week
CVE-2018-5002Adobe Flash Player versions 29.0.0.171 and earlier have a Stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability.KEV
68This week

Published before and after this one in the same product

← EarlierCVE-2016-4227Jul 12, 2016 · Use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player before 18.0.0.366 and 19.x through 22.x before 22.0.0.209 on Windows and OS X and before…
45Plan
← EarlierCVE-2016-4228Jul 12, 2016 · Use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player before 18.0.0.366 and 19.x through 22.x before 22.0.0.209 on Windows and OS X and before…
45Plan
Later →CVE-2016-4230Jul 12, 2016 · Use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player before 18.0.0.366 and 19.x through 22.x before 22.0.0.209 on Windows and OS X and before…
45Plan

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.

Exploit status

Proof of concept available

A public proof of concept or detection signature exists. Exploit knowledge is out there; don't delay patching.

Evidence

Exploit-DB entry ×1

Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.

Public exploit evidence
Source	Kind	Date
Exploit-DB entry	dos	2016-08-29

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

PublishedJul 12, 2016
First PoCAug 29, 2016+47 d
TodayNov 15, 2026+3778 d

Not on record for this CVE: EPSS history · patch commit or PR link · researcher credit · variant or chain candidate · public bounty program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
No account or password is required.
A user must open a link or visit a page.
No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality: high · data can be read
Integrity: high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability: high · the service can be disrupted

Attack vector: Network
Attack complexity: Low
Privileges required: None
User interaction: Required
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality impact: High
Integrity impact: High
Availability impact: High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-416 · Use After Free

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-primary

Root cause

After a memory region is freed, another reference pointing to it is still used. By then, the same region may have been allocated for different data.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-416 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

1free(dev->buf);
2/* ... another thread is still running ... */
3process(dev->buf);

Fixed

1lock(&dev->lock);
2free(dev->buf);
3dev->buf = NULL;
4unlock(&dev->lock);

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

Change log (0)

No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.

References

lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-07/msg00016.html

Show all references (7 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records