CVE-2021-21008
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedAdobe Animate version 21.0 (and earlier) is affected by an uncontrolled search path element that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceAdobe Animate version 21.0 and earlier contains an uncontrolled search path element vulnerability, allowing DLL hijacking. When a user opens a malicious file, the application may load a malicious DLL from the same directory as the file or other untrusted paths, leading to arbitrary code execution in the current user's context.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 21.0CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Adobe Animate installationCheck for Adobe Animate installation by searching for the executable 'Adobe Animate.exe' in common installation paths such as C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Animate 2021\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Animate 2021\, or query the Windows Registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Animate or HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe AnimateAffected if Adobe Animate is found installed on the system
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Determine installed versionRight-click on Adobe Animate.exe, select Properties, then view the Details tab to read the Product Version field. Alternatively, check the VersionNumber value in the registry key found in the previous stepAffected if The version displayed is 21.0 or lower (for example, 21.0, 20.5, 20.0, etc.)
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Confirm vulnerability applicabilityThis DLL hijacking flaw occurs when Adobe Animate loads DLLs from the same directory as a file being opened. No special configuration check is needed - the vulnerability exists in the application's DLL search path behavior for all users of version 21.0 and earlierAffected if Adobe Animate version 21.0 or earlier is installed and users may open files from untrusted or shared locations
If Adobe Animate version 21.0 or earlier is installed on the system, the environment is vulnerable to DLL hijacking when users open files from untrusted sources.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpdate Adobe Animate to a version newer than 21.0. Until patched, avoid opening files from untrusted sources and consider application whitelisting as a compensating control.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-21008 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-21008 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data