CVE-2021-28609
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 an Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability when parsing a specially crafted file. An unauthenticated attacker could leverage this vulnerability to disclose sensitive memory information 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 an out-of-bounds read vulnerability when parsing specially crafted files. An unauthenticated attacker can exploit this to read sensitive memory contents in the context of the current user's session, potentially exposing sensitive data.
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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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 After Effects version on WindowsOpen Windows Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\AdobeAfterEffects or check the executable properties of AfterEffects.exe in the program files folder. The version is listed as 'Version' or 'DisplayVersion'.Affected if The version listed is 18.2 or lower (for example, 18.0, 18.1, 18.2)
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Check After Effects version on macOSOpen Finder, navigate to Applications, right-click Adobe After Effects, select Get Info, and view the Version field under General. Alternatively, open the app bundle at /Applications/Adobe After Effects/Contents/Info.plist and look for CFBundleShortVersionString.Affected if The version shown is 18.2 or any version number lower than 18.2 (such as 18.0 or 18.1)
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Check version from within the applicationLaunch Adobe After Effects, go to Help menu, and select About After Effects. The version number is displayed in the splash screen or about dialog.Affected if The displayed version is 18.2 or earlier
You are affected if Adobe After Effects version installed on your system is 18.2 or any earlier version number.
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. Avoid opening files from untrusted sources.
Adobe After Effects 18.2.1 or later (latest available version)
- 1. Close Adobe After Effects if it is currently running
- 2. Back up any current projects and user settings as a precaution
- 3. Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or navigate to adobe.com/downloads
- 4. Locate Adobe After Effects in the available updates
- 5. Download and install the updated version (version 18.2.1 or later)
- 6. Verify the installed version by opening After Effects and checking Help > About Adobe After Effects
- 7. Ensure the version number displays 18.2.1 or higher
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 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 $1,376.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-28609 — 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-2021-28609 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