Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This is a low-severity Adobe After Effects issue where opening a malicious file could expose small amounts of process memory. The main business risk is not direct system takeover, but information disclosure that may help weaken protections like ASLR during a broader attack chain.
Executive priority
Treat this as routine patching for exposed creative workstations, not an emergency response item. Prioritize users who handle third-party media files because exploitation depends on opening a malicious file.
Technical view
CVE-2021-44195 is a CWE-125 out-of-bounds read in Adobe After Effects JPEG file parsing. Affected versions are 22.0 and earlier, and 18.4.2 and earlier. CVSS 3.1 is 3.3: local attack vector, no privileges, user interaction required, low confidentiality impact, no integrity or availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to endpoints running affected Adobe After Effects versions, especially creative or media workflows that open externally supplied files. User interaction is required: a victim must open a malicious file. Servers and systems without After Effects are not indicated as affected by the provided sources.
Exploitation context
The provided bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. Exploitation requires convincing a user to open a malicious file in After Effects. The disclosed impact is sensitive memory exposure and possible assistance in bypassing mitigations such as ASLR.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports an out-of-bounds read with low confidentiality impact only. No source in the bundle names active exploitation. Patch specifics are not included in the bundle text, so remediation should be confirmed against Adobe APSB21-115 rather than inferred.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory Adobe After Effects installations and versions across creative workstations.
- Check Adobe APSB21-115 for vendor-recommended fixed builds or updates.
- Update affected After Effects versions according to Adobe guidance.
- Limit opening untrusted media files until affected systems are remediated.
- Route externally supplied files through established intake and scanning workflows.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether After Effects 22.0 or earlier is installed.
- Confirm whether After Effects 18.4.2 or earlier is installed.
- Compare installed builds with Adobe APSB21-115 guidance.
- Review endpoints used by users who receive external media files.
- Document systems that cannot be updated and apply compensating controls.
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
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-2021-44195 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.