📄 Description (English)
Adobe Flash Player Use-After-Free Vulnerability — Adobe Flash Player com.adobe.tvsdk.mediacore.metadata Use After Free Vulnerability
🤖 AI Executive Summary
CVE-2018-15982 is a critical use-after-free vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player that allows arbitrary code execution. This vulnerability has known exploits in the wild and was actively weaponized by threat actors including APT groups shortly after disclosure. With a CVSS score of 9.0, it enables remote code execution through malicious Flash content embedded in documents or web pages. Given Flash Player's end-of-life status since December 2020, any remaining installations represent a severe security risk.
📄 Description (Arabic)
🤖 AI Intelligence Analysis Analyzed: Apr 10, 2026 13:36
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Impact Assessment
This vulnerability poses significant risk to Saudi organizations that may still have legacy Flash Player installations. Government agencies (NCA-regulated entities) running legacy web applications dependent on Flash are particularly vulnerable. Banking sector institutions under SAMA regulation may have legacy internal applications still requiring Flash. Energy sector organizations including ARAMCO and its contractors may have legacy SCADA/HMI interfaces or internal portals using Flash. Telecom operators like STC may have legacy customer-facing or internal systems. The active exploitation by APT groups makes this especially concerning given Saudi Arabia's status as a high-value target for nation-state cyber operations.
🏢 Affected Saudi Sectors
Government
Banking
Energy
Telecom
Healthcare
Education
Defense
⚖️ Saudi Risk Score (AI)
9.2
/ 10.0
🔧 Remediation Steps (English)
Immediate Actions:
1. Completely uninstall Adobe Flash Player from all endpoints, servers, and systems — Flash reached end-of-life on December 31, 2020
2. Block Flash content at the network perimeter using web proxies and firewalls
3. Disable Flash Player plugins in all browsers via Group Policy
Patching Guidance:
- If immediate removal is not possible, apply Adobe security update APSB18-42
- Migrate all Flash-dependent applications to HTML5 or modern alternatives
Compensating Controls:
- Deploy application whitelisting to prevent Flash-based exploitation
- Enable Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) or Windows Defender Exploit Guard
- Block .swf file types at email gateways and web proxies
- Implement network segmentation for systems that cannot remove Flash
Detection Rules:
- Monitor for Flash Player process execution (FlashPlayerPlugin, pepflashplayer)
- Alert on .swf file downloads or email attachments containing Flash content
- Deploy YARA rules for known CVE-2018-15982 exploit payloads
- Monitor for suspicious Office documents with embedded Flash objects
🔧 خطوات المعالجة (العربية)
الإجراءات الفورية:
1. إزالة Adobe Flash Player بالكامل من جميع الأجهزة والخوادم والأنظمة — انتهى دعم Flash في 31 ديسمبر 2020
2. حظر محتوى Flash على محيط الشبكة باستخدام بروكسيات الويب وجدران الحماية
3. تعطيل إضافات Flash Player في جميع المتصفحات عبر سياسة المجموعة
إرشادات التصحيح:
- إذا لم تكن الإزالة الفورية ممكنة، قم بتطبيق تحديث Adobe الأمني APSB18-42
- ترحيل جميع التطبيقات المعتمدة على Flash إلى HTML5 أو بدائل حديثة
الضوابط التعويضية:
- نشر القوائم البيضاء للتطبيقات لمنع الاستغلال المبني على Flash
- تفعيل أدوات الحماية من الاستغلال مثل Windows Defender Exploit Guard
- حظر ملفات .swf في بوابات البريد الإلكتروني وبروكسيات الويب
- تطبيق تجزئة الشبكة للأنظمة التي لا يمكنها إزالة Flash
قواعد الكشف:
- مراقبة تنفيذ عمليات Flash Player
- التنبيه عند تنزيل ملفات .swf أو مرفقات بريد إلكتروني تحتوي على محتوى Flash
- نشر قواعد YARA للحمولات المعروفة لاستغلال CVE-2018-15982
- مراقبة مستندات Office المشبوهة التي تحتوي على كائنات Flash مضمنة
📋 Regulatory Compliance Mapping
🟢 NCA ECC 2024
2-3-1 (Asset Management)
2-5-1 (Vulnerability Management)
2-6-1 (Patch Management)
2-9-1 (Endpoint Protection)
🔵 SAMA CSF
3.3.3 (Patch Management)
3.3.5 (Vulnerability Management)
3.3.7 (Endpoint Security)
3.4.1 (Malware Protection)
🟡 ISO 27001:2022
A.8.8 (Management of technical vulnerabilities)
A.8.7 (Protection against malware)
A.8.9 (Configuration management)
A.8.23 (Web filtering)
🟣 PCI DSS v4.0
6.3.3 (Patching security vulnerabilities)
6.2 (System components protected from known vulnerabilities)
5.2 (Anti-malware mechanisms)
11.3 (Penetration testing)
🔗 References & Sources 0
No references.
📦 Affected Products / CPE 1 entries
Adobe:Flash Player