CVE-2021-28571
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 After Effects version 18.1 (and earlier) is affected by a potential Command injection vulnerability when chained with a development and debugging tool for JavaScript scripts. An unauthenticated attacker could leverage this vulnerability to achieve 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 After Effects version 18.1 and earlier contains a command injection vulnerability that can be chained with a JavaScript development/debugging tool to achieve arbitrary code execution. The attack requires user interaction (opening a malicious file) but does not require 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<= 18.1CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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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Check installed Adobe After Effects versionOpen After Effects and navigate to Help > About Adobe After Effects, or check via the Creative Cloud desktop app under installed apps, or view the program in Windows Programs and Features / macOS Applications folderAffected if The version displayed is 18.1 or any earlier version number (such as 18.0, 17.x, etc.)
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Confirm version is in affected rangeCompare your identified version against the known affected range: version 18.1 and earlierAffected if Your installed version is 18.1 or below, meaning it falls within the vulnerable range
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Check for JavaScript development toolsLook for JavaScript or ExtendScript debugging tools installed on the system that could be chained with this command injection vulnerability (common examples include ExtendScript Toolkit, custom JS debuggers, or scripting environments)Affected if Such tools are present and could be invoked through the command injection to achieve arbitrary code execution
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Inspect script and file handling configurationReview After Effects preferences (Edit > Preferences > General) for script execution settings and file handling behaviors that control how scripts or external files are processed when openedAffected if Script execution from external or untrusted sources is enabled or the application automatically runs scripts embedded in project files
You are affected if your Adobe After Effects version is 18.1 or earlier, especially if JavaScript debugging tools are available on the system and users may 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.
dbcve · scopedUpdate Adobe After Effects to version 18.2 or later to patch this vulnerability. Until updated, warn users against opening files from untrusted sources.
Adobe After Effects 18.2 or later
- 1. Close Adobe After Effects if it is currently running
- 2. Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or navigate to the Adobe After Effects download page
- 3. Locate Adobe After Effects in your installed applications
- 4. Check for available updates - the fix for CVE-2021-28571 is included in After Effects version 18.2 and later
- 5. If an update to version 18.2 or newer is available, click Update to download and install the patched version
- 6. After the update completes, verify the installed version by opening After Effects and navigating to Help > About Adobe After Effects
- 7. Confirm the version number displays 18.2 or higher
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-28571 — 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-2021-28571 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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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- 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