Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-28592 is a high-severity Adobe Illustrator flaw. A malicious file can trigger memory corruption when Illustrator parses JPEG2000 content, potentially letting an attacker run code as the user who opens it. The main business risk is compromised designer or marketing workstations through untrusted files.
Executive priority
Treat as a high-priority workstation remediation item for creative, marketing, and design users. It is not described as remotely exploitable without user action, but successful exploitation could compromise user data and system integrity.
Technical view
Adobe Illustrator 25.2.3 and earlier are affected by a CWE-787 out-of-bounds write in specially crafted file parsing involving JPEG2000 content. The CVSS 3.1 score is 7.8. Attack complexity is low, privileges are not required, but user interaction is required because the victim must open the malicious file.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on endpoints running Adobe Illustrator 25.2.3 or earlier, especially teams that receive external artwork, client files, or creative assets from untrusted sources.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. Exploitation requires convincing a user to open a malicious file, so phishing, shared drives, and client-submitted artwork are plausible delivery paths.
Researcher notes
The source bundle supports the vulnerability class, affected product, CVSS vector, and user-interaction requirement. It does not provide a detailed platform matrix, fixed version list, or evidence of exploitation in the wild.
Mitigation direction
- Identify Illustrator installations and prioritize versions 25.2.3 or earlier.
- Review Adobe APSB21-42 and apply the vendor-recommended Illustrator update.
- Restrict opening Illustrator files from unknown or untrusted sources.
- Use endpoint controls to monitor unusual child processes from Illustrator.
- Train creative teams to verify unexpected design file submissions.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Adobe Illustrator versions across managed endpoints.
- Confirm whether any installation is version 25.2.3 or earlier.
- Verify Adobe APSB21-42 remediation has been applied.
- Review file-ingestion workflows for untrusted creative assets.
- Check endpoint telemetry for suspicious Illustrator process behavior.
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-2021-28592 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 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/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:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.8HighVector: CVSS:3.1/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/illustrator/apsb21-42.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.