CVE-2021-28611
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 Our-of-bounds Read vulnerability when parsing a specially crafted file. An unauthenticated attacker could leverage this vulnerability to disclose sensitive memory information and cause a denial of service 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 are vulnerable to an out-of-bounds read when parsing specially crafted files. An attacker can craft a malicious file that, when opened by a victim, allows disclosure of sensitive memory contents and causes application denial of service.
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
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 installed After Effects versionOpen After Effects, go to Help > About After Effects, or check the application executable properties (right-click AEAfterFX.exe > Properties > Details). On Windows, also check registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\After Effects\ or HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Adobe\After Effects\ for the Version value.Affected if The displayed version number is 18.2 or any version lower than 18.2 (e.g., 18.1, 18.0, 17.x, 16.x).
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Confirm the vulnerable parsing featureThe vulnerability is triggered when After Effects opens or parses specially crafted project files. This feature (loading/importing project files) is enabled by default in all standard installations.Affected if After Effects is installed and can be used to open project files (.aep, .aepx, or other supported formats).
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Verify patch statusCheck if the installed version is 18.2.1 or later by comparing your version against the affected range.Affected if The installed version is 18.2 or earlier, meaning the patch (18.2.1+) has not been applied.
You are affected if Adobe After Effects version 18.2 or earlier is installed on your system, as this version contains the vulnerable file parsing code.
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 18.2.1 or later. Until patched, avoid opening files from untrusted sources.
Adobe After Effects 18.2.1 or later
- 1. Verify the current installed version of Adobe After Effects by opening the application and navigating to Help > About Adobe After Effects
- 2. Download Adobe After Effects version 18.2.1 or later from the official Adobe website at helpx.adobe.com
- 3. Ensure all other Adobe applications are closed before installing the update
- 4. Run the installer and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the update
- 5. After installation, restart the computer to ensure all components are properly updated
- 6. Verify the installed version by checking Help > About Adobe After Effects confirms the update was applied
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-28611 — 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-2021-28611 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data