CVE-2021-21100
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 Digital Editions version 4.5.11.187245 (and earlier) is affected by a Privilege Escalation vulnerability during installation. An unauthenticated attacker could leverage this vulnerability to achieve arbitrary file system write 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 · moderate confidenceAdobe Digital Editions versions 4.5.11.187245 and earlier contain a privilege escalation vulnerability that occurs during the installation process. An unauthenticated attacker can achieve arbitrary file system write in the context of the current user by leveraging a malicious file that the victim must open. This is a local privilege escalation requiring user interaction but not authentication.
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<= 4.5.11.187245CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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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Identify Adobe Digital Editions installationCheck for Adobe Digital Editions installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Digital Editions\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Digital Editions\) and locate the main executable (ADE.exe or similar)Affected if Adobe Digital Editions is installed on the system
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Determine installed versionRight-click the main executable, select Properties, then view the Details tab to find the File Version. Alternatively, open PowerShell and run: (Get-Item 'C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Digital Editions\ADE.exe').VersionInfo.FileVersionAffected if The version cannot be determined or the file does not exist
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Compare against affected version rangeCompare the installed version number to 4.5.11.187245. If the version is 4.5.11.187245 or earlier (for example 4.5.11.187242, 4.5.10.x, etc.), the installation is vulnerableAffected if Installed version is 4.5.11.187245 or earlier
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Check for recent installation activityReview Windows Event Logs (Application and Setup logs) for recent Adobe Digital Editions installation events, or check for recent installer files in Downloads or Temp foldersAffected if A recent installation of a vulnerable version was performed
The system is affected if Adobe Digital Editions version 4.5.11.187245 or earlier is installed, as this version contains the privilege escalation flaw during the installation process.
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 Digital Editions to a version newer than 4.5.11.187245. Until the update is applied, exercise caution when opening files from untrusted sources, as exploitation requires user interaction (opening a malicious file).
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-21100 — 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-2021-21100 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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