CVE-2021-40742
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 · high confidenceA null pointer dereference vulnerability in Adobe Audition version 14.4 and earlier allows unauthenticated attackers to cause application denial-of-service when a user opens a specially crafted audio file. The vulnerability occurs during file parsing and requires user interaction (opening the malicious file) to trigger.
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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Check Adobe Audition version on WindowsOpen Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Audition\Version, or right-click the Audition.exe executable (typically in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Audition 14\) and select Properties > Details to view the File VersionAffected if The version shown is 14.4 or earlier
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Check Adobe Audition version on macOSRight-click the Adobe Audition application in Applications, select Get Info, and view the Version field, or run: defaults read /Applications/Adobe\ Audition\ 14/Adobe\ Audition\ 14.app/Contents/Info CFBundleShortVersionStringAffected if The version shown is 14.4 or earlier
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Compare installed version to affected rangeNote the exact version number found and compare it against the affected range: versions 14.4 and earlier are vulnerable. Version 14.5 and later are patched.Affected if The installed version is 14.4 or any version number lower than 14.4
The system is affected if Adobe Audition version 14.4 or earlier is installed, and becomes vulnerable when a user opens a specially crafted malicious audio file, causing the application to crash via null pointer dereference.
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 version 14.5 or later to patch the vulnerability, and avoid opening audio files from untrusted or unknown sources.
14.4.1 or later (verify through Adobe's official update channel)
- 1. Close Adobe Audition if it is currently running
- 2. Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or navigate to adobe.com
- 3. Navigate to the Adobe Audition product page or your installed apps
- 4. Check for available updates to Adobe Audition
- 5. If an update to version 14.4.1 or later is available, click Update to install it
- 6. Alternatively, download the latest version of Adobe Audition from the official Adobe website
- 7. After installation, verify the version by opening Audition and checking Help > About Adobe Audition
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-2021-40742 — 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-2021-40742 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