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VulnerabilityCVE-2018-15982Published 2019-01-18

CVE-2018-15982 — Adobe Flash Player

highCISA KEVRansomwarePublic exploit8 PoC repos

As of 2026-11-07, CVE-2018-15982 is a HIGH-severity vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player, CVSS v3.1 7.8, EPSS 89.5% (99.7th percentile). It is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-02-15), with a US federal remediation deadline of 2022-08-15, and CISA links it to known ransomware campaigns. Threadlinqs Intelligence links 2 tracked threat campaigns to CVE-2018-15982, most recently “Bottle Exploit Kit (BottleEK) - Malvertising Campaign Targeting Japanese Users via CVE-2018-8174 and CVE-2018-15982”.

CVSS v3.1
7.8/10High
EPSS
89.5%Higher than 99.7% of scored CVEs
CISA KEV
ListedAdded · due 2022-08-15
Tracked threats
2Campaigns referencing it
Priority
10/10Threadlinqs triage score
Published
Updated 2026-10-01
CVSS v3.1 7.8 (HIGH) · EPSS 89.5% (higher than 99.7% of all scored CVEs) · Priority 10/10 · Published 2019-01-18

Last updated:

What is CVE-2018-15982?

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.

The record classifies CVE-2018-15982 under weakness class CWE-416. Its CVSS v3 base vector states that the flaw requires local access to the host, needs no prior authentication, needs a user to take an action first, and has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability. 14 affected-product entries are recorded, across 6 vendors, listed below. The identifier was first published 2850 days ago.

Severity and exploitation probability

CVSS v3.1 base score
7.8 — HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS (FIRST)
89.5% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 99.7% of all scored CVEs
CISA KEV
Listed since 2022-02-15, federal remediation deadline 2022-08-15 — used in known ransomware campaigns
Threadlinqs priority
10/10 — CISA lists it as used in ransomware, which Threadlinqs scores at the maximum
Published
2019-01-18, last modified 2026-10-01

Is CVE-2018-15982 being exploited?

CISA added CVE-2018-15982 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2022-02-15, which means the agency holds evidence of exploitation in the wild; US federal civilian agencies had to remediate it by 2022-08-15 under BOD 22-01. CISA flags the vulnerability as one used in known ransomware campaigns. Weaponised exploit code for CVE-2018-15982 is publicly available. 8 public proof-of-concept repositories are tracked for this identifier. It currently carries a trending score of 53 in the Threadlinqs vulnerability feed.

Affected products and versions

  • Adobe: Flash Player, Flash Player Installer
  • Apple: Mac Os X
  • Linux: Kernel
  • Microsoft: Windows, Windows 10, Windows 8.1
  • Google: Chrome Os
  • Redhat: Enterprise Linux Desktop 6.0, Enterprise Linux Server 6.0, Enterprise Linux Workstation 6.0

Showing 11 of 14 recorded product entries.

How to fix CVE-2018-15982

The record marks a vendor fix as available for CVE-2018-15982. Patch reference: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/flash-player/apsb18-42.html. Because CVE-2018-15982 is KEV-listed, US federal civilian agencies were required to apply the vendor fix, or stop using the product, by 2022-08-15. Apply the vendor fix referenced above to every affected product listed in this record, then confirm the running version against the vendor advisory.

Threat activity tracking CVE-2018-15982

2 tracked threats in the Threadlinqs corpus reference CVE-2018-15982, either in the campaign’s CVE list or as an indicator on the campaign record.

Sources

Enriched from CVE.org, NVD, FIRST EPSS, CISA KEV, GitHub Security Advisories, public proof-of-concept repositories. Last verified by Threadlinqs on . This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.

Vendor advisory and patch

Exploit and proof of concept

Vulnerability database entry