Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This is a low-severity Adobe After Effects flaw triggered by opening a malicious MP4 file. It may expose sensitive memory and help weaken protections such as ASLR. It is not described as remotely exploitable without user interaction, and the bundle does not show known active exploitation.
Executive priority
Treat this as routine patch management, not an emergency. Prioritize systems used for creative workflows or external media intake, because user interaction is required and impact is limited to memory disclosure.
Technical view
CVE-2021-44191 is a CWE-125 out-of-bounds read in Adobe After Effects MP4 parsing. Affected versions are 22.0 and earlier and 18.4.2 and earlier. CVSS 3.1 is 3.3, with local attack vector, no privileges, required user interaction, and low confidentiality impact only.
Likely exposure
Exposure is mainly workstations or creative environments running affected Adobe After Effects versions, especially where users open MP4 files from external, email, client, or shared sources.
Exploitation context
The source bundle says exploitation requires a victim to open a malicious file. KEV is false, and no cited source in the bundle reports active exploitation.
Researcher notes
The bundle supports an information-disclosure issue in MP4 parsing, potentially useful for bypassing ASLR. It does not provide crash details, exploit primitives, fixed version text, or evidence of exploitation, so validation should stay version- and advisory-driven.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory Adobe After Effects installations and versions.
- Compare installed versions with 22.0 and earlier or 18.4.2 and earlier.
- Review and apply Adobe APSB21-115 vendor guidance.
- Limit opening untrusted MP4 files on affected systems.
- Use standard endpoint controls for suspicious file delivery.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether After Effects is installed on managed endpoints.
- Verify installed versions against the affected version ranges.
- Check patch or remediation status against Adobe APSB21-115.
- Review helpdesk or security logs for suspicious media-file handling.
- Confirm users handling external media understand file-opening risk.
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-125: Exact CWE lookup
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Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-44191 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
- Low
- CVSS
- 3.3 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/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:L/I:N/A:N1.81.4Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
3.3LowVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/after_effects/apsb21-115.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.
Out-of-bounds Read
Out-of-bounds Read represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.