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PhotoshopApplication · Adobe

CVE-2021-36066

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-09-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 22.4.3 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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 · unedited
Adobe Photoshop versions 21.2.10 (and earlier) and 22.4.3 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds write vulnerability that could result in 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 confidence

Adobe Photoshop contains an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in the parsing of certain files, allowing an attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution by enticing a user to open a specially crafted malicious file.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Photoshop to version 22.5 or later (for the 22.x line) or the equivalent patched version for the 21.x line, as indicated in Adobe's security bulletin.

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
PhotoshopApplication
Affected:>= 21.2.0, <= 21.2.10>= 22.4.0, <= 22.4.3

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Adobe Photoshop is installed
    Open Adobe Photoshop and go to Help > About Photoshop, or check the installed version via the Creative Cloud desktop application or system registry
    Affected if Adobe Photoshop is not installed on the system
  2. Determine installed Photoshop version number
    In Photoshop, go to Help > About Photoshop and note the version number displayed (for example: 21.2.5 or 22.4.2). Alternatively, check the version in the Creative Cloud app or Windows Programs and Features.
    Affected if Unable to determine the installed version number
  3. Compare against affected version range for 21.x line
    If the installed version starts with 21.x (such as 21.2.0 through 21.2.10), check if it falls within the affected range >= 21.2.0 and <= 21.2.10
    Affected if Installed version is 21.2.0 through 21.2.10 inclusive
  4. Compare against affected version range for 22.x line
    If the installed version starts with 22.x (such as 22.4.0 through 22.4.3), check if it falls within the affected range >= 22.4.0 and <= 22.4.3
    Affected if Installed version is 22.4.0 through 22.4.3 inclusive

The system is affected if Adobe Photoshop version 21.2.0-21.2.10 or 22.4.0-22.4.3 is installed and the user opens a specially crafted malicious file.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 22.4.3
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Photoshop to version 22.5 or later (for the 22.x line) or the equivalent patched version for the 21.x line, as indicated in Adobe's security bulletin.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Photoshop 21.2.11 (or later 21.x) / 22.4.4 (or later 22.x) - update to latest available version

  1. 1. Close Adobe Photoshop completely before updating
  2. 2. Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application
  3. 3. Navigate to the 'Apps' section
  4. 4. Find Adobe Photoshop in the list of installed apps
  5. 5. Click on 'Update' next to Photoshop to install the latest version
  6. 6. Alternatively, manually download the latest Photoshop version from Adobe's official website (get.adobe.com/photoshop)
  7. 7. After updating, verify the installed version is 21.2.11 or later for the 21.x branch, or 22.4.4 or later for the 22.x branch
  8. 8. Do not open untrusted or suspicious image files in Photoshop
Caveat Standard Adobe update - minimal risk; however, some legacy plugins or scripts may need verification for compatibility with the new version

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Photoshop Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-36066 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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