CVE-2021-28602
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 18.2 (and earlier) is affected by a memory corruption vulnerability when parsing a specially crafted file. 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 versions 18.2 and earlier contain a memory corruption vulnerability when parsing specially crafted files, allowing an unauthenticated attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user through a malicious file that requires victim interaction to open.
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<= 18.2CVSS 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.
-
Verify Adobe After Effects is installedCheck system for After Effects installation - look in standard installation paths (C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects) or use system inventory tools to list installed softwareAffected if Adobe After Effects is present on the system and version is 18.2 or earlier
-
Determine installed After Effects versionOpen After Effects and go to Help > About After Effects, or check the version in the application's properties/详细信息 in the installed software listAffected if The displayed version number is 18.2 or lower (versions like 18.2, 18.1, 18.0, 17.x, etc.)
-
Confirm version against CVE scopeCompare your installed version number to the affected range: any version 18.2 or earlierAffected if Your installed version is 18.2, 18.1, 18.0, or any 17.x release - these all fall within the vulnerable range
You are affected if Adobe After Effects is installed and the version is 18.2 or earlier, as these versions contain the memory corruption vulnerability when parsing specially crafted files.
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 a version newer than 18.2 when a patch becomes available; avoid opening project files from untrusted sources until the update is applied.
Adobe After Effects version 18.3 or later (or latest 2021/2022 release)
- Navigate to the Adobe After Effects download page or open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application
- Locate Adobe After Effects in your installed applications
- Check the current installed version (Help > About After Effects)
- If version is 18.2 or earlier, initiate the update through Adobe Creative Cloud or download the latest version from helpx.adobe.com
- After updating, verify the new version number matches a release newer than 18.2
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-28602 — 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-2021-28602 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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