Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Adobe Animate 21.0.9 and earlier can be compromised if a user opens a malicious BMP image. Successful exploitation could let attacker-supplied code run with that user's permissions, putting workstation data and the user's accessible systems at risk.
Executive priority
Treat this as high priority for creative workstations. It is not described as internet-exposed or actively exploited, but a malicious file could compromise a user endpoint with broad business access.
Technical view
CVE-2021-42524 is a CWE-787 out-of-bounds write in Adobe Animate BMP parsing. CVSS 3.0 is 7.8, local attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, user interaction required, and high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on workstations running Adobe Animate 21.0.9 or earlier, especially creative or content teams that receive and open image files from external sources.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not indicate active exploitation, and CISA KEV status is false. Exploitation requires user interaction: the victim must open a malicious BMP file in the affected application.
Researcher notes
The source bundle identifies Adobe Animate 21.0.9 and earlier, CWE-787, and user-assisted BMP parsing exploitation. It does not provide exploit availability, in-the-wild evidence, or exact patched build details, so rely on Adobe APSB21-105 for version-specific remediation.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory managed endpoints for Adobe Animate installations.
- Prioritize systems running Adobe Animate 21.0.9 or earlier.
- Apply Adobe guidance from APSB21-105 for remediation.
- Limit opening untrusted BMP files until remediation is confirmed.
- Use endpoint controls to reduce risky file handling where feasible.
Validation and detection
- Confirm installed Adobe Animate versions on managed workstations.
- Check whether remediation matches Adobe APSB21-105 guidance.
- Review email, download, and file-sharing paths for BMP exposure.
- Confirm users handling external media files are prioritized.
- Verify endpoint detection covers suspicious activity from Animate processes.
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-787: 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-2021-42524 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/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.
Out-of-bounds Write
Out-of-bounds Write represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.