CVE-2018-4878
Adobe Flash Player · Browsers and web engines
Adobe Flash Player Use-After-Free Vulnerability
At a glance
Exploited. Added to CISA’s catalog of exploited vulnerabilities on November 3, 2021.
Used in ransomware attacks, according to CISA.
End-of-life product: no patch is coming. Remove it or isolate it from the network.
Affected product: Adobe Flash Player (category Browsers and web engines, indicative classification). Name in CISA’s catalog: Adobe Flash Player.
What should I do?
This product has reached end of life: no patch is coming. Remove it or isolate it from the network.
Deadline set by CISA for US federal agencies: 181 days (due May 3, 2022). It only binds those agencies, but it is a useful measure of urgency.
- Adobe security advisories page (general page, not the advisory for this vulnerability)
- The vendor’s specific advisory is listed in the NVD references: CVE-2018-4878 on the NVD website.
Original text of the required action (CISA)
The impacted product is end-of-life and should be disconnected if still in use.
Timeline
- Vulnerability published Publication date (NVD)
- Exploitation confirmed Added to CISA’s KEV catalog
- CISA deadline Remediation deadline set for US federal agencies
The facts, with their sources
- Exploitation confirmed
- Yes, on November 3, 2021 Date added to the catalog of exploited vulnerabilities. Exploitation itself may have started earlier. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
- Ransomware
- Known use Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
- Hunt for compromise
- Not requested by CISA Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
- CISA required action
- This product has reached end of life: no patch is coming. Remove it or isolate it from the network. Rewritten by this site from CISA’s original text. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
- CISA deadline
- May 3, 2022, 181 days Set for US federal agencies: a measure of urgency, not an obligation elsewhere. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
- Vulnerability published
- February 6, 2018 Source: National Vulnerability Database (NVD), collected September 29, 2026 at 15:00 UTC
- Product according to CISA
- Adobe Flash Player Filed by this site under “Browsers and web engines” (indicative classification). Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
- CVSS vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Technical detail of the score: attack vector, complexity, impact. Source: National Vulnerability Database (NVD), collected September 29, 2026 at 15:00 UTC
Severity and activity
FIRST’s EPSS model. Since exploitation is already confirmed, this figure is mostly useful to compare activity. Collected Sep 29, 2026.
Description
A use-after-free vulnerability was discovered in Adobe Flash Player before 28.0.0.161. This vulnerability occurs due to a dangling pointer in the Primetime SDK related to media player handling of listener objects. A successful attack can lead to arbitrary code execution. This was exploited in the wild in January and February 2018.
Official description from the NVD, collected Sep 29, 2026. CVE® description © The MITRE Corporation.
Adobe Flash Player contains a use-after-free vulnerability that could allow for code execution.
Summary from CISA (KEV catalog).
CERT-FR advisories
No advisory among the latest CERT-FR publications this site follows. That does not mean there are none.
Information reused under the Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab); the date of last update is shown for each advisory. This site is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by ANSSI.
Sources for this page
- CISA KEV catalog: exploitation, date added, required action, deadline, ransomware.
- NVD (NIST): CVSS severity, publication date, description, vendor references.
- EPSS (FIRST): probability of exploitation.
- CERT-FR: advisories and alerts (in French).
- Brand and category: indicative classification by this site (method).