Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Adobe Premiere Rush 1.5.16 and earlier can be compromised when a user opens a malicious WAV file. Successful exploitation could let attacker-controlled code run with that user's permissions, risking data theft, tampering, or workstation disruption.
Executive priority
Prioritize remediation for creative, marketing, and media teams that process external audio files. This is not described as actively exploited, but code execution from a common media file type can create meaningful workstation compromise risk.
Technical view
CVE-2021-40784 is a memory corruption flaw in Adobe Premiere Rush's handling of malicious WAV files. CVSS 3.0 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 most likely on workstations running Adobe Premiere Rush 1.5.16 or earlier, especially users who receive, download, or import WAV files from external sources. The bundle does not identify server-side exposure.
Exploitation context
The source bundle states user interaction is required. It is not listed as KEV, and the provided sources do not show active exploitation or public exploit availability. Treat suspicious media delivery as the main practical abuse path.
Researcher notes
The strongest source facts are product, version boundary, WAV parsing trigger, user interaction, CVSS 7.8, and CWE-788. The bundle does not include a fixed version, exploit details, indicators, or evidence of exploitation in the wild.
Mitigation direction
- Follow Adobe APSB21-101 and update Premiere Rush to a fixed supported version.
- Remove Adobe Premiere Rush where it is not business-required.
- Restrict users from opening untrusted WAV files from external sources.
- Use least-privilege workstation accounts for media workflows.
- Prioritize EDR coverage on creative workstations handling external media.
Validation and detection
- Inventory endpoints for Adobe Premiere Rush installations and versions.
- Identify any systems running version 1.5.16 or earlier.
- Confirm remediation status against Adobe APSB21-101 guidance.
- Review workflows where users receive or import external WAV files.
- Check security telemetry for suspicious activity around media-processing workstations.
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-2021-40784 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 (3.0)
- 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_rush/apsb21-101.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.