Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This is a low-severity Adobe After Effects crash issue. A malicious file can cause After Effects 18.2 or earlier to stop working when a user opens it. The sources do not indicate data theft, privilege gain, or code execution.
Executive priority
Handle through standard patch management, not emergency response. The business risk is workstation disruption for creative users, with no sourced evidence of broader compromise or active exploitation.
Technical view
CVE-2021-28601 is a CWE-476 NULL pointer dereference in Adobe After Effects file parsing. Attack vector is local with required user interaction and no privileges. CVSS 3.1 is 3.3, with no confidentiality or integrity impact and low availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on creative workstations running Adobe After Effects 18.2 or earlier, especially where users open externally supplied files. The source bundle does not provide CPEs or a complete affected-version matrix.
Exploitation context
The provided CVE data says exploitation requires a victim to open a specially crafted file. KEV status is false, and the supplied sources do not support active exploitation claims.
Researcher notes
The record supports a denial-of-service only. Do not infer remote exploitation or code execution from the NULL dereference. Fixed-version details are not included in the source bundle, so remediation should be tied to Adobe APSB21-49.
Mitigation direction
- Review Adobe APSB21-49 and apply the vendor-recommended After Effects update.
- Inventory After Effects installations and prioritize versions 18.2 and earlier.
- Limit opening untrusted After Effects files from external parties.
- Use normal endpoint controls to quarantine suspicious attachments and downloads.
Validation and detection
- Confirm installed After Effects versions on managed creative endpoints.
- Compare installed versions against Adobe APSB21-49 guidance.
- Check whether users handle externally sourced project or media files.
- Validate that file-handling and attachment controls cover creative file workflows.
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-476: 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 lookupCVE-2021-28601 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
- Low
- CVSS
- 3.3 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
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:N/I:N/A:L1.81.4Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
3.3LowVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/after_effects/apsb21-49.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.
NULL Pointer Dereference
NULL Pointer Dereference represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.