Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Adobe Animate 21.0.9 and earlier can crash when a user opens a malicious FLA file. This is not described as data theft or remote takeover, but it can interrupt creative workflows and may be used as a targeted disruption vector.
Executive priority
Treat this as a moderate workstation availability issue. It should not outrank remotely exploitable or code execution vulnerabilities, but it warrants routine patching where Animate is used in production workflows.
Technical view
CVE-2021-42268 is a CWE-476 null pointer dereference in Adobe Animate FLA parsing. The CVSS 3.1 score is 5.5, with local attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, required user interaction, unchanged scope, and high availability impact only.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to endpoints where Adobe Animate 21.0.9 or earlier is installed and users receive or open FLA files from untrusted or external sources. Systems without Adobe Animate are not indicated as affected in the provided sources.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not identify active exploitation, and KEV status is false. Exploitation requires persuading a user to open a specially crafted FLA file. The documented outcome is application denial of service in the current user's context.
Researcher notes
The provided evidence supports denial of service only, not confidentiality or integrity impact. Exact fixed version details are not included in the source bundle, so remediation should be validated against Adobe's advisory rather than inferred.
Mitigation direction
- Review Adobe APSB21-105 and deploy the vendor-recommended Animate update.
- Restrict opening FLA files from untrusted senders or external sources.
- Use endpoint controls to quarantine suspicious FLA attachments or downloads.
- Prioritize remediation on creator workstations handling external project files.
Validation and detection
- Inventory endpoints for Adobe Animate 21.0.9 or earlier.
- Confirm installed versions against Adobe APSB21-105 guidance.
- Review helpdesk or endpoint telemetry for unexpected Animate crashes.
- Check mail and file-sharing workflows that deliver FLA files to users.
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-476: 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-2021-42268 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:N/I:N/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:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H1.83.6Primary 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:N/I:N/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/animate/apsb21-105.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.
NULL Pointer Dereference
NULL Pointer Dereference represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.