Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-40702 is a high-severity Adobe Premiere Elements issue where opening a malicious PSD file could let attacker-controlled code run as the current user. It requires user interaction, so risk is highest for creative staff who receive project assets from outside parties.
Executive priority
Treat this as a workstation patching and file-handling priority for creative or marketing teams. It is not remotely exploitable by itself, but a single opened malicious asset could compromise a user's workstation.
Technical view
Adobe Premiere Elements 2021.2235820 and earlier has a memory corruption flaw from insecure handling of malicious PSD files. The CVSS 3.0 score is 7.8, with local attack vector, no privileges required, required user interaction, unchanged scope, and high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely on workstations running affected Adobe Premiere Elements builds, especially systems used to open PSD files from clients, vendors, shared drives, email, or collaboration platforms.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or other evidence of active exploitation. Exploitation requires a user to open or process a malicious PSD file, and successful execution runs in the current user's context.
Researcher notes
The record maps to CWE-788 and describes memory corruption from PSD parsing. Public details in the supplied bundle are limited to impact, affected version threshold, user interaction, and Adobe's advisory reference; no exploit details or precise fixed build were provided.
Mitigation direction
- Review Adobe APSB21-78 for the vendor-designated remediation path.
- Update affected Premiere Elements installations according to Adobe guidance.
- Restrict handling of PSD files from untrusted sources until remediated.
- Use least-privilege user accounts for creative workstations.
- Strengthen attachment and file-transfer screening for PSD assets.
Validation and detection
- Inventory systems with Adobe Premiere Elements installed.
- Identify any installations at version 2021.2235820 or earlier.
- Confirm remediation status against Adobe APSB21-78.
- Review workflows that accept external PSD files.
- Check endpoint controls for suspicious activity around media-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-788: 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-2021-40702 mapping review
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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/premiere_elements/apsb21-78.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.
Access of Memory Location After End of Buffer
Access of Memory Location After End of Buffer represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.