CVE-2021-40737
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 Audition version 14.4 (and earlier) is affected by a Null pointer dereference vulnerability when parsing a specially crafted file. An unauthenticated attacker could leverage this vulnerability to achieve an application 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 · moderate confidenceAdobe Audition versions 14.4 and earlier contain a null pointer dereference vulnerability triggered when parsing a specially crafted malicious audio file. Successful exploitation causes the application to crash, resulting in denial-of-service for the current user session. The attacker requires user interaction (victim must open 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<= 14.4CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/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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Verify Adobe Audition is installedCheck common installation directories (Program Files/Adobe/Adobe Audition) or use system software inventory tools to confirm Adobe Audition is present on the systemAffected if Adobe Audition is not installed on the system
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Identify installed Adobe Audition versionOpen Adobe Audition, go to Help > About Adobe Audition, or right-click the executable file and select Properties > Details to view the product versionAffected if The displayed version number is 14.4 or earlier (e.g., 14.0, 14.1, 14.2, 14.3, 14.4)
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Compare version against affected rangeCompare your installed version number against the affected range: any version numbered 14.4 or lower is within the vulnerable rangeAffected if The installed version is 14.4 or any earlier version number (14.0 through 14.4)
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Confirm version is not patchedIf version shows 14.4.1 or higher (e.g., 14.5, 14.6, 2021.x), the patch has been appliedAffected if The version is 14.4 or below and no subsequent update has been installed
A user is affected if Adobe Audition version 14.4 or earlier is installed, since the null pointer dereference vulnerability triggers when parsing a specially crafted audio file.
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 · scopedUpgrade Adobe Audition to version 14.4.1 or later to obtain the vendor patch. Avoid opening untrusted audio files from unknown sources.
Adobe Audition 14.5 or later (latest available version)
- 1. Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or check for updates within Adobe Audition
- 2. Navigate to Help > Check for Updates
- 3. If an update is available, download and install the latest version of Adobe Audition
- 4. Alternatively, manually download Adobe Audition version 14.5 or later from the official Adobe website
- 5. After installation, verify the version by going to Help > About Adobe Audition
- 6. Ensure the installed version is greater than 14.4
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 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-2021-40737 — 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-2021-40737 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