CVE-2021-21078
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 Creative Cloud Desktop Application version 5.3 (and earlier) is affected by an Unquoted Service Path vulnerability in CCXProcess that could allow an attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution in the process of the current user. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction
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 · moderate confidenceAdobe Creative Cloud Desktop Application version 5.3 and earlier contains an unquoted service path vulnerability in the CCXProcess Windows service. The service's ImagePath registry entry does not enclose the executable path in quotes, allowing an attacker to place a malicious executable in an intermediate directory path (e.g., C:\Program.exe) that would be executed when the service starts. This achieves arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user.
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<= 5.3CVSS 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
- Low
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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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Check Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop Application versionOpen Programs and Features (appwiz.cpl) or check the installed version via Adobe software, or look in the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\AdobeCreativeCloud for the DisplayVersion valueAffected if Version is 5.3 or earlier
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Verify CCXProcess Windows service existsOpen Services (services.msc) and look for a service named CCXProcess, or query via command: sc query CCXProcessAffected if The CCXProcess service is present on the system
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Inspect ImagePath registry entry for CCXProcess serviceOpen Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\CCXProcess, or run: reg query HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\CCXProcess /v ImagePathAffected if The ImagePath value does NOT contain quotes around the executable path (e.g., C:\Program Files\Adobe\...\CCXProcess.exe instead of "C:\Program Files\Adobe\...\CCXProcess.exe")
A user is affected if they have Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop Application version 5.3 or earlier AND the CCXProcess service exists with an unquoted ImagePath in the Windows registry.
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 dataRemediate by either updating to a patched version of Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop Application (if available from Adobe) that corrects the service configuration, or by manually correcting the CCXProcess service's ImagePath in the Windows registry to include proper quotation marks around the executable path.
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- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-21078 — 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-2021-21078 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
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