Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-28616 affects Adobe After Effects 18.2 and earlier. A malicious file can trigger memory disclosure and crash the application when opened. This is not a remote network compromise by itself, but it matters for creative teams that handle files from clients, vendors, or public submissions.
Executive priority
Treat this as a moderate endpoint risk. Prioritize remediation for creative workstations that process outside files, because business impact is most likely through sensitive memory disclosure or application disruption after user interaction.
Technical view
The issue is a CWE-125 out-of-bounds read in After Effects file parsing. The CVSS 3.1 score is 6.1 with local attack vector, low complexity, no privileges, required user interaction, high confidentiality impact, and low availability impact. Integrity impact is not indicated.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to systems running Adobe After Effects 18.2 or earlier, especially users who open externally supplied or untrusted project/media files. The source bundle does not identify affected platforms beyond Adobe After Effects.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. Exploitation requires the victim to open a specially crafted file, so phishing, client file exchange, and shared creative workflows are the most relevant risk contexts.
Researcher notes
The evidence supports memory disclosure and denial of service, not code execution or active exploitation. Product version details are limited to After Effects 18.2 and earlier in the provided bundle. Use vendor guidance for exact fixed builds and platform-specific remediation.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory endpoints for Adobe After Effects 18.2 or earlier.
- Review Adobe APSB21-49 and apply the vendor-provided After Effects security update.
- Limit opening externally supplied After Effects or media files until systems are updated.
- Route suspicious creative files through established malware and sandbox review processes.
Validation and detection
- Confirm installed After Effects versions across managed endpoints.
- Verify remediation status against Adobe APSB21-49 guidance.
- Check whether exposed creative teams receive untrusted files from external parties.
- Review endpoint crash or alert telemetry related to suspicious After Effects file handling.
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-2021-28616 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
- 6.1 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/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:H/I:N/A:L1.84.2Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.1MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/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.
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.