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CVE-2016-4117

Adobe Flash Player 21.0.0.226 and earlier allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, as exploited in the wild in May 2016.

CVSS
9.8Critical
Exploited in the wild
Yes, in CISA KEV since 3 Mar 2022CISA deadline for US federal agencies: 24 Mar 2022known use in ransomware campaignspublic exploit code
EPSS
94.3%chance of exploitation in the next 30 daystop 0.2% of scored CVEsFIRST score of 11 Nov 2026
Fix
Patch availablesee the advisories in the references
Published
11 May 2016analysed here 12 Nov 2026

Do first. The impacted product is end-of-life and should be disconnected if still in use. (CISA's required action for this KEV entry)

Summary

Triage

Exploitable
At runtime
Attack vector
network
Can a WAF block it?
Partly. See why

The summary, impact and action text on this page are written by our AI analysis pipeline, or taken from the NVD description when a CVE was imported from NVD. They are not the vendor's wording: check them against the sources. A longer AI executive summary and technical analysis are generated for signed-in accounts on the Max plan.

Affected products

Products named in our analysis

  • adobe:flash_player
  • redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop
  • redhat:enterprise_linux_server
  • redhat:enterprise_linux_server_from_rhui
  • redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation
  • opensuse:evergreen
  • opensuse:opensuse
  • suse:linux_enterprise_desktop
  • suse:linux_enterprise_workstation_extension

Fix and mitigation

WAF and other mitigations

Can a WAF block it? Partly. The bug can be reached over the network, so generic WAF rules may stop some attacks. Its weakness type is unknown, so we cannot be more precise.

Also consider: patch

Based on the weakness type only; no CVE-specific evidence yet. We check Cloudflare, AWS, Google Cloud Armor and Azure; for Akamai, Imperva, Fastly, F5, ask your vendor.

Remediation steps (AI-written)

Step-by-step remediation is generated for accounts on the Max plan, for CVEs that match a technology in their stack. Add this technology to your stack to see the fix checklist.

Exploitation evidence

CISA KEV catalog
Listed since 3 Mar 2022. Known use in ransomware campaigns.
CISA due date
24 Mar 2022, the remediation deadline for US federal agencies
CISA required action
The impacted product is end-of-life and should be disconnected if still in use.
Public exploit code
Yes: 1 on Exploit-DB · 1 Metasploit module · 1 GitHub proof of concept
CISA SSVC
exploitation active, automatable no, technical impact totalAssessed by CISA 3 Feb 2021 (SSVC 2.0.3). Exploitation is none, poc (public proof of concept) or active.

Exploit-DB

Metasploit

GitHub proofs of concept

Listed so you can judge urgency, not as a recommendation to run anything. GitHub “proofs of concept” are unvetted: some are fake or carry malware. Exploit-DB marks the entries its staff verified.

Timeline

  1. 11 May 2016Published
  2. 23 Feb 2017First public exploit or proof of concept288 days (about 10 months) later
  3. 3 Feb 2021CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation active1,441 days (about 4 years) later
  4. 3 Mar 2022Added to CISA KEV (exploited in the wild)393 days (about 1 year) later
  5. 24 Mar 2022CISA remediation due date (US federal agencies)21 days later
  6. 10 Sept 2026CVE record last updated1,631 days (about 4 years) later
  7. 12 Nov 2026Analysed by vulneraibility.com63 days (about 2 months) later

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

MetricValueWhat it means
Attack vectorNetworkReachable over the internet or any routable network.
Attack complexityLowRepeatable attack, no special conditions.
Privileges requiredNoneThe attacker needs no prior access.
User interactionNoneNo victim action needed.
ScopeUnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
ConfidentialityHighTotal data disclosure possible.
IntegrityHighComplete modification possible.
AvailabilityHighFull outage possible.

Common questions

Is CVE-2016-4117 being exploited?

Yes. CVE-2016-4117 appears in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which means exploitation in the wild has been confirmed and reported. Treat it as active rather than theoretical, and patch it ahead of higher-scoring vulnerabilities that carry no exploitation evidence.

How severe is CVE-2016-4117?

CVE-2016-4117 is rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.8. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.

Is there a patch for CVE-2016-4117?

Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2016-4117. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.

What does CVE-2016-4117 affect?

CVE-2016-4117 affects adobe:flash_player, redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop, redhat:enterprise_linux_server, redhat:enterprise_linux_server_from_rhui, and 5 further products or versions. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.

Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.

References

NVDCVE.orgCVE DetailsSource

13 references in the CVE record, grouped by the tags the record gives them.

Advisories (6)

Exploits (1)

Other links (6)

Where the data on this page comes from

Summary, impact and triage tags: written by our AI analysis pipeline from the sources above. Check them against the sources.

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