Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Adobe After Effects 16.1.2 and earlier contain a memory corruption flaw that Adobe and CVE describe as potentially allowing arbitrary code execution. For leadership, the risk is highest where affected After Effects systems process external or untrusted project/media content. The provided sources do not show active exploitation.
Executive priority
Treat as urgent for creative environments with affected Adobe After Effects installs. The severity is critical because successful exploitation could execute code, but urgency should be driven by actual version presence and exposure to untrusted content.
Technical view
CVE-2020-3765 is a CWE-787 out-of-bounds write in Adobe After Effects 16.1.2 and earlier. The CVE record assigns CVSS 3.1 score 9.8, with high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact. Successful exploitation could allow arbitrary code execution.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to environments running Adobe After Effects 16.1.2 or earlier. Creative workstations, shared production systems, and any endpoint opening externally supplied After Effects content should be prioritized for inventory and remediation review.
Exploitation context
The bundle lists KEV as false and provides no cited evidence of active exploitation. It also does not include exploit prerequisites beyond the CVSS vector and Adobe/CVE impact statement. Treat exploit status as unconfirmed, not disproven.
Researcher notes
The source bundle identifies only Adobe After Effects 16.1.2 and earlier, CWE-787, and arbitrary code execution impact. It does not provide proof-of-concept details, exploitation telemetry, CPEs, or explicit fixed-version text in the supplied data.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory all Adobe After Effects installations and versions.
- Use Adobe APSB20-09 to identify the vendor-corrected release path.
- Prioritize remediation for systems handling external project or media files.
- Restrict use of affected versions until vendor guidance is applied.
- Remove unsupported or unnecessary After Effects installations.
Validation and detection
- Confirm no endpoint runs After Effects 16.1.2 or earlier.
- Check software inventory and vulnerability scanner results for CVE-2020-3765.
- Verify remediation evidence against Adobe APSB20-09 guidance.
- Review creative workstation exposure to externally supplied files.
- Document exceptions with owner, business need, and compensating controls.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-787: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupExecution behavior lookup
The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2020-3765 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H3.95.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
9.8CriticalVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/after_effects/apsb20-09.htmlCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Out-of-bounds Write
Out-of-bounds Write represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.