# CVE-2014-8439: Adobe Flash Player Dereferenced Pointer

> Attackers can execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service via invalid pointer dereference in Adobe Flash Player and AIR.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Yes, since 25 May 2022 (CISA KEV)
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 25 Nov 2014
- **Updated:** 22 Oct 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-w62w-9g5v-w3p4, MGASA-2014-0497, RHSA-2014:1915, UBUNTU-CVE-2014-8439

## What is CVE-2014-8439?

CVE-2014-8439 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Adobe Air, published on 25 Nov 2014. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Adobe Flash Player before 13.0.0.258 and 14.x and 15.x before 15.0.0.239 on Windows and OS X and before 11.2.202.424 on Linux, Adobe AIR before 15.0.0.293, Adobe AIR SDK before 15.0.0.302, and Adobe AIR SDK & Compiler before 15.0.0.302 allow attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (invalid pointer dereference) via unspecified vectors.

Weakness: CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer), CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2014-8439?

It affects 4 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `flash-plugin` | Red Hat:rhel_extras:5::client | All versions | 0:11.2.202.424-1.el5 |
| `flash-plugin` | Red Hat:rhel_extras:5::server | All versions | 0:11.2.202.424-1.el5 |
| `flash-plugin` | Red Hat:rhel_extras:6 | All versions | 0:11.2.202.424-1.el6 |

Products: Adobe Air, Adobe Air Sdk, Adobe Air Sdk \& Compiler, Adobe Flash Player.

## How do I fix CVE-2014-8439?

Upgrade to a fixed version. US federal agencies must fix it by 15 Jun 2022.

## Is CVE-2014-8439 being exploited?

Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2014-8439 in the wild since at least 25 May 2022.

## Other vulnerabilities in Adobe Air

- [CVE-2016-1010](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-1010/): Adobe Flash Player and AIR Integer Overflow (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2015-8651](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8651/): Adobe Flash Player Integer Overflow (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2012-2034](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-2034/): Adobe Flash Player Memory Corruption (high 7.5, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2015-8459](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8459/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2015-8045](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8045/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2014-8439 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2014-8439 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Adobe Air, published on 25 Nov 2014. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2014-8439 in the wild since at least 25 May 2022.

Affected product: Adobe Air. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-8439/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-8439/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2014-8439
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-8439
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2014-8439

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-8439/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.