Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This vulnerability affects Adobe Premiere Pro when a user opens a malicious MOV file. It can expose sensitive memory from the application process and may help bypass protections such as ASLR. It is not described as remote, automatic exploitation; user interaction is required.
Executive priority
Treat as a moderate endpoint risk for media-production users. Patch affected creative workstations and reduce exposure to untrusted files, but this does not warrant the same urgency as a remotely exploitable internet-facing flaw based on the supplied evidence.
Technical view
CVE-2021-40790 is a CWE-416 use-after-free in Adobe Premiere Pro MOV file parsing. Adobe lists Premiere Pro 22.0 and earlier, and 15.4.2 and earlier, as affected. CVSS 3.1 is 5.5 with local attack vector, low complexity, no privileges, required user interaction, and high confidentiality impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on workstations running affected Adobe Premiere Pro versions, especially creative teams that receive MOV files from customers, partners, freelancers, or public sources. This is endpoint exposure rather than public internet service exposure.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. Exploitation requires convincing a victim to open a malicious file. The stated impact is information disclosure and possible mitigation bypass, not code execution or service disruption.
Researcher notes
The key technical issue is MOV parser memory lifetime handling, classified as CWE-416. CVSS indicates confidentiality-only impact with user interaction required. The source bundle does not provide exploit details, confirmed exploitation, or specific fixed version numbers, so remediation should follow Adobe's advisory directly.
Mitigation direction
- Review Adobe APSB21-117 and apply Adobe's recommended Premiere Pro update.
- Prioritize systems running Premiere Pro 22.0 or earlier, or 15.4.2 or earlier.
- Avoid opening unsolicited or untrusted MOV files on affected systems.
- Use isolated review workflows for external media until systems are updated.
- Remove unsupported or unnecessary Premiere Pro installations from endpoints.
Validation and detection
- Inventory installed Adobe Premiere Pro versions across managed endpoints.
- Compare detected versions with the affected version ranges in the CVE description.
- Confirm Adobe APSB21-117 remediation has been applied where Premiere Pro is installed.
- Check endpoint management records for remaining vulnerable versions.
- Review security controls around external media intake and user 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-416: 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-2021-40790 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 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/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:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N1.83.6Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
5.5MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/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/premiere_pro/apsb21-117.htmlCVE reference · vendor-advisory
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.
Use After Free
Use After Free represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.