Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A malicious file opened in Adobe After Effects 18.2 or earlier could cause the application to read memory outside expected bounds and expose sensitive information from the current user’s session.
Executive priority
Treat this as a targeted workstation confidentiality risk, not a broad remote takeover issue. Prioritize creative teams handling third-party files and update through Adobe guidance.
Technical view
CVE-2021-28609 is a CWE-125 out-of-bounds read in Adobe After Effects file parsing. The CVSS 3.0 score is 5.5 with local attack vector, no privileges required, required user interaction, and high confidentiality impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most relevant on workstations running Adobe After Effects 18.2 or earlier, especially where users open project or media files from external parties, clients, vendors, or shared repositories.
Exploitation context
The sources state exploitation requires user interaction: a victim must open a malicious file. The provided bundle does not indicate CISA KEV listing or active exploitation evidence.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports an out-of-bounds read during crafted-file parsing with confidentiality impact only. No integrity or availability impact is reported in the supplied CVSS vector, and no exploitation-in-the-wild signal is provided.
Mitigation direction
- Review Adobe APSB21-49 and apply the vendor-recommended After Effects update.
- Prioritize systems running After Effects 18.2 or earlier.
- Limit opening untrusted After Effects files from external sources.
- Use endpoint controls to quarantine suspicious creative project files.
Validation and detection
- Inventory endpoints with Adobe After Effects installed.
- Identify versions at or below 18.2.
- Confirm remediation status against Adobe APSB21-49 guidance.
- Review whether users routinely process externally supplied After Effects files.
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-125: 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-2021-28609 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
- Medium
- CVSS
- 5.5 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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:N/A:N1.83.6Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
5.5MediumVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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.
Out-of-bounds Read
Out-of-bounds Read represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.