Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-44698 is a low-severity Adobe Audition flaw where opening a malicious MP4 file could expose sensitive memory. The main business concern is workstation compromise support: leaked memory may help an attacker bypass protections like ASLR, but the issue requires user interaction and has limited direct impact.
Executive priority
Treat this as routine patch management unless Adobe Audition users regularly process untrusted media. Prioritize creative and media-production endpoints, but this does not warrant emergency response based on the provided evidence.
Technical view
Adobe Audition 14.4 and earlier, and 22.0 and earlier, have a CWE-125 out-of-bounds read in MP4 parsing. The CVSS 3.1 score is 3.3, with local attack vector, required user interaction, low confidentiality impact, and no stated integrity or availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on user workstations running affected Adobe Audition versions and handling externally supplied MP4 files. The provided sources do not indicate server-side exposure or broader Adobe product impact.
Exploitation context
Exploitation requires convincing a victim to open a malicious MP4 file in Adobe Audition. The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or other evidence of active exploitation.
Researcher notes
The sources identify memory disclosure through MP4 parsing and potential ASLR mitigation bypass. They do not provide exploit-in-the-wild evidence, detailed root cause, or complete remediation version details in the supplied bundle.
Mitigation direction
- Identify Adobe Audition installations at version 14.4 or earlier, and 22.0 or earlier.
- Apply the Adobe Audition update or guidance in Adobe APSB21-121.
- Restrict opening MP4 files from untrusted or unexpected sources.
- Use endpoint controls to flag suspicious media attachments or downloads.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Adobe Audition versions across managed endpoints.
- Confirm affected versions were updated according to Adobe APSB21-121.
- Review EDR and email telemetry for unusual MP4 delivery to Audition users.
- Verify user-facing file-handling guidance covers untrusted media files.
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-2021-44698 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/audition/apsb21-121.htmlCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-21-1577/CVE 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 Read
Out-of-bounds Read represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.