--- title: "CVE-2018-4878: Use After Free | CubePath" 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…" language: en source: https://cubepath.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-4878 --- # CVE-2018-4878: Use After Free | CubePath ## 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 CVE record, published by adobe. Copyright © 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. See [/security/cve/legal](https://cubepath.com/security/cve/legal) for the CVE license. [View the record on cve.org](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-4878) ## Key data ### CVSS 3.1 High 7.8 Score published by CISA-ADP in the CVE record. CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H | Metric | Value | What it means | | ---------------------- | --------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Attack vector | Local | The attacker needs local access to the system, or to trick a user into running something. | | Attack complexity | Low | No special conditions are needed. The attack can be repeated at will. | | Privileges required | None | No account or privileges are needed. | | User interaction | Required | A user has to do something first, such as opening a file or following a link. | | Scope | Unchanged | The impact stays within the vulnerable component. | | Confidentiality impact | High | Serious or total effect on the secrecy of data. | | Integrity impact | High | Serious or total effect on the trustworthiness of data. | | Availability impact | High | Serious or total effect on availability. | CVSS is owned and managed by FIRST.Org, Inc. (FIRST) and is used by permission. Each CVSS score on this site is shown together with its vector string, as published in the CVE record by the source named next to it. Learn more at [first.org/cvss](https://www.first.org/cvss/) . ### EPSS Exploit Prediction Scoring System by FIRST: an estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days. Score 0.90280 (90.3% probability) Percentile 99.8% Scores of Nov 10, 2026 Model v2026.06.15 ### CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities This CVE is listed in the CISA KEV catalog. Name in the catalog Adobe Flash Player Use-After-Free Vulnerability Added to the catalog Nov 3, 2021 Federal due date May 3, 2022 Ransomware campaigns Known use ### CISA assessment as of Nov 17, 2025 Stakeholder-Specific Vulnerability Categorization (SSVC) decision points added by CISA. Exploitation Recorded by CISA as active Automatable no Technical impact total ### Weakness (CWE) CWE catalog version 5.0. CWE names: Copyright © 2006-2026, The MITRE Corporation. See [/security/cve/legal](https://cubepath.com/security/cve/legal) for the CWE license. - [CWE-416](https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/416.html) Use After Free ## Affected products Products listed in the CVE record, as the CNA published them. - Adobe Flash Player before 28.0.0.161 - affected: Adobe Flash Player before 28.0.0.161 ## References Links listed in the CVE record. They lead to other sites, which CubePath does not control. - [blog.talosintelligence.com/2018/02/group-123-goes-wild.html](http://blog.talosintelligence.com/2018/02/group-123-goes-wild.html) - [threatpost.com/adobe-flash-player-zero-day-spotted-in-the-w…](https://threatpost.com/adobe-flash-player-zero-day-spotted-in-the-wild/129742/) - [helpx.adobe.com/security/products/flash-player/apsb18-03.ht…](https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/flash-player/apsb18-03.html) - [RHSA-2018:0285](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:0285) (access.redhat.com) vendor-advisory - [1040318](http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1040318) (securitytracker.com) vdb-entry - [102893](http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/102893) (securityfocus.com) vdb-entry - [fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2018/02/attacks-leveraging…](https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2018/02/attacks-leveraging-adobe-zero-day.html) - [blog.morphisec.com/flash-exploit-cve-2018-4878-spotted-in-t…](https://blog.morphisec.com/flash-exploit-cve-2018-4878-spotted-in-the-wild-massive-malspam-campaign) - [darkreading.com/threat-intelligence/adobe-flash-vulnerabili…](https://www.darkreading.com/threat-intelligence/adobe-flash-vulnerability-reappears-in-malicious-word-files/d/d-id/1331139) - [github.com/InQuest/malware-samples/tree/master/CVE-2018-487…](https://github.com/InQuest/malware-samples/tree/master/CVE-2018-4878-Adobe-Flash-DRM-UAF-0day) - [trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/news/vulnerabilities-and-e…](https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/news/vulnerabilities-and-exploits/north-korean-hackers-allegedly-exploit-adobe-flash-player-vulnerability-cve-2018-4878-against-south-korean-targets) - [github.com/vysec/CVE-2018-4878](https://github.com/vysec/CVE-2018-4878) - [securingtomorrow.mcafee.com/mcafee-labs/hackers-bypassed-ad…](https://securingtomorrow.mcafee.com/mcafee-labs/hackers-bypassed-adobe-flash-protection-mechanism/) - [44412](https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44412/) (exploit-db.com) exploit ## Timeline 1. ID reserved Jan 3, 2018 2. Record published Feb 6, 2018 3. Added to CISA KEV Nov 3, 2021 4. Record last updated Nov 17, 2025 ## Look up another CVE ## About CubePath CubePath is a cloud provider with data centers in Europe and the United States. It offers VPS, bare metal servers and DDoS protection. [Cloud VPS](https://cubepath.com/vps) [DDoS protection](https://cubepath.com/ddos-protection) Data from the CVE Program (MITRE), CISA KEV and FIRST EPSS. CVSS is owned by FIRST and used by permission. Not affiliated with or endorsed by MITRE, CISA or FIRST. Data as of Nov 10, 2026, 19:35 UTC. [Sources and licenses](https://cubepath.com/security/cve/legal)