CVE-2021-28615
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 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 18.2 and earlier contains an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in its file parsing functionality. When parsing a specially crafted malicious file, the software reads memory beyond allocated buffer boundaries, allowing disclosure of sensitive memory contents. Exploitation requires user interaction—opening the malicious file.
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:3.1/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 if Adobe After Effects is installedOpen Windows Settings > Apps & Features or macOS Applications folder and look for Adobe After Effects. On Windows, you can also run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion' in PowerShell.Affected if Adobe After Effects is not found on the system, the vulnerability does not apply.
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Identify the installed After Effects versionOpen After Effects, go to Help > About After Effects (Windows) or After Effects > About After Effects (macOS). Alternatively, check the Windows Registry at HKLM\Software\Adobe\After Effects\18.x (version folder) or look in the application installation directory for a version file.Affected if The displayed version number is 18.2 or any version lower than 18.2.
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Confirm the exact version number against affected rangeCompare your installed version string (for example, 18.0, 18.1, 18.2, 18.2.0, 18.2.1) to the affected range: all versions 18.2 and earlier. If the version begins with 18. and the final number is 2 or lower, it is vulnerable.Affected if The version is 18.2, 18.1, 18.0, or any 18.x version where x is 2 or less.
If Adobe After Effects version 18.2 or earlier is installed, the system is affected by this out-of-bounds read vulnerability in file parsing.
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 · scopedApply the vendor security patch when released by Adobe. Until then, exercise caution by not opening untrusted or unsolicited files in After Effects, and consider running the application with reduced privileges to limit the impact of potential exploitation.
After Effects 18.2.1 or later (recommended: latest available version)
- 1. Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or check for updates within After Effects
- 2. Navigate to the Updates or Help menu in After Effects
- 3. Check for and install the latest available update for Adobe After Effects
- 4. Alternatively, download the latest version from the official Adobe website at adobe.com
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 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 $1,456.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-28615 — 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-2021-28615 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