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CriticalCISA KEVExploited in the wildPublic exploit

Adobe Flash Player Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2016-1019)

IdentifiersCVE-2016-1019CWE-119

CVE-2016-1019 is a critical vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player 21.0.0.197 and earlier. The provided content states that a malicious Flash file on an exploit-kit landing page selected this vulnerability based on the victim's installed Flash version and that the issue was exploited in the wild in April 2016. Adobe's public description, as reflected in the content, indicates that the flaw could be triggered via unspecified vectors to cause an application crash and potentially arbitrary code execution. The content does not identify the exact vulnerable function or root cause beyond this behavior, so more specific technical details about the underlying bug are currently not available from the provided material.

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For your environment

Are you exposed to this one?

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation can cause a denial of service through Flash Player process or application crash and may permit arbitrary code execution in the context of the affected user. In the observed campaigns, exploitation of CVE-2016-1019 was used as part of exploit-kit and watering-hole delivery chains to install follow-on malware, including backdoors and banking malware such as Ursnif and Ramnit.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

Until remediation is completed, disable or block Adobe Flash Player in browsers and applications, restrict execution of legacy browser plugins, and prevent access to untrusted or unnecessary Flash content. Additional mitigations include browser hardening, application allowlisting, network controls to block exploit-kit infrastructure, and endpoint protections that can detect exploit-chain behaviors such as suspicious regsvr32.exe or rundll32.exe child execution following browser activity.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade Adobe Flash Player to a version newer than 21.0.0.197 that contains Adobe's security fix for CVE-2016-1019. Because Flash Player is end-of-life, the practical remediation is complete removal or disablement of Adobe Flash Player from all systems and browsers. Organizations should also remove legacy browser support paths that can still invoke Flash content.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType
AdobeAir Desktop Runtimeapplication
AdobeAir Sdkapplication
AdobeAir Sdk & Compilerapplication
AdobeFlash Playerapplication
AdobeFlash Player Desktop Runtimeapplication

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

This page is what’s public. Mallory adds the parts that aren’t: which of your assets are affected, which adversaries are exploiting it right now, which detections to deploy, and what to do tonight.
Exposure mapping

Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.

Threat actor evidence2

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware4

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures2

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.

Adobe Flash Player Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2016-1019) (CVE-2016-1019) | Mallory