CVE-2021-40740
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 memory corruption vulnerability when parsing a M4A file, potentially resulting in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. User interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability.
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 Audition versions 14.4 and earlier contain a memory corruption vulnerability during M4A file parsing. An attacker can craft a malicious M4A file that, when opened by a user, triggers the memory corruption and can achieve arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user.
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
- 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Adobe Audition is installedCheck for Adobe Audition installation: On Windows, look in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Audition or check Programs and Features. On macOS, check /Applications for Adobe Audition.appAffected if Adobe Audition is not installed on the system
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Identify installed Adobe Audition versionRight-click Adobe Audition in the application menu, select Help > About Adobe Audition, or check the version in the application info/propertiesAffected if The displayed version number is 14.4 or lower (for example, 14.0, 14.1, 14.2, 14.3, or 14.4)
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Confirm M4A file handling is possibleAttempt to open an M4A file in Adobe Audition by using File > Open and navigating to any .m4a file, or verify the software can import M4A formatAffected if Adobe Audition can import or open M4A files and the version is 14.4 or earlier
The environment is affected if Adobe Audition version 14.4 or earlier is installed and the software can open or parse M4A audio files.
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 Audition to a version newer than 14.4. Avoid opening M4A files from untrusted or unknown sources until the patch is applied.
Latest Adobe Audition version (any release above 14.4)
- Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or visit adobe.com
- Navigate to Adobe Audition in your installed applications
- Click update or check for updates to install the latest version
- Verify the installed version is newer than 14.4 (helpx.adobe.com confirms 14.4 and earlier are affected)
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
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-40740 — 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-2021-40740 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