Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A malicious Photoshop file could make vulnerable Photoshop installations run attacker-controlled code as the person who opened it. The attacker still needs the victim to open a crafted file, so exposure is highest for creative, marketing, and production teams that handle files from outside parties.
Executive priority
Prioritize remediation for teams that routinely handle external creative files. This is not documented as actively exploited in the provided sources, but successful exploitation could compromise user workstations and data with high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Technical view
CVE-2021-21048 is a Photoshop memory corruption issue, categorized as CWE-787, in versions 21.2.4 and earlier and 22.1.1 and earlier. Parsing a specially crafted file can lead to arbitrary code execution in the current user context. CVSS v3.0 is 7.8 with required user interaction.
Likely exposure
Organizations are most exposed where Adobe Photoshop is installed on endpoints and users open PSD or image-related files from clients, vendors, public submissions, or shared repositories. The source bundle does not list CPEs or platform-specific affected builds beyond the Photoshop version ranges.
Exploitation context
The source bundle states exploitation requires user interaction: a victim must open a malicious file. It does not identify public exploitation, and the CVE is not marked as CISA KEV. Treat phishing, shared media workflows, and untrusted design-file intake as the practical risk context.
Researcher notes
The provided evidence supports affected versions, impact, user interaction, CVSS, and CWE. It does not provide exploit details, CPEs, platform scope, indicators of compromise, or fixed build numbers. Use Adobe APSB21-10 as the authoritative remediation reference.
Mitigation direction
- Review Adobe APSB21-10 and update Photoshop according to vendor guidance.
- Prioritize endpoints running Photoshop 21.2.4 or earlier, or 22.1.1 or earlier.
- Restrict opening untrusted design or image files on vulnerable workstations.
- Use endpoint controls to limit damage from code running as the current user.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Photoshop installations and record exact major and minor versions.
- Confirm no managed endpoint remains on affected version ranges.
- Check whether high-risk teams receive external Photoshop or image files.
- Verify endpoint protection and least-privilege controls apply to creative workstations.
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-2021-21048 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
- High
- CVSS
- 7.8 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
7.8HighVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/photoshop/apsb21-10.htmlCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
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.