Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Adobe Illustrator could read past expected JPEG file data and expose small amounts of process memory. A user would need to open a malicious file. Business urgency is low, but the issue matters where Illustrator handles untrusted artwork or client submissions.
Executive priority
Handle through normal patch management unless affected users routinely open untrusted client files. Prioritize creative teams, marketing, and production endpoints first.
Technical view
CVE-2021-44700 is a CWE-125 out-of-bounds read in Adobe Illustrator JPEG parsing. Affected versions are Illustrator 25.4.2 and earlier, and 26.0.1 and earlier. Impact is limited confidentiality exposure and potential ASLR mitigation bypass. CVSS is 3.3, local attack vector, user interaction required.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on designer or production workstations running the affected Illustrator versions, especially where users open externally supplied JPEG or Illustrator content.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not show KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. Exploitation requires user interaction: the victim must open a malicious file in Illustrator.
Researcher notes
Evidence in the provided bundle supports low-severity confidentiality impact, user interaction requirement, and no KEV signal. The bundle does not name fixed versions, so remediation should be tied to Adobe APSB22-02 rather than inferred.
Mitigation direction
- Check Adobe APSB22-02 for official remediation guidance.
- Update Illustrator through Adobe’s supported update channel.
- Restrict opening untrusted design files on affected workstations.
- Use endpoint controls to quarantine suspicious attachments or downloads.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Illustrator versions across managed endpoints.
- Flag installations at 25.4.2 or earlier, and 26.0.1 or earlier.
- Confirm update status against Adobe APSB22-02 guidance.
- Review endpoint alerts for suspicious files opened by Illustrator.
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-2021-44700 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 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/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:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N1.81.4Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
3.3LowVector: CVSS:3.0/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/illustrator/apsb22-02.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 Read
Out-of-bounds Read represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.