CVE-2021-40764
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 Character Animator version 4.4 (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 Character Animator version 4.4 and earlier contains a memory corruption vulnerability when parsing M4A audio files. Successful exploitation allows arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user, requiring the victim to open a specially crafted M4A 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<= 4.4CVSS 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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Check Adobe Character Animator versionOpen Adobe Character Animator and navigate to Help > About Adobe Character Animator, or check via the Creative Cloud desktop app under Installed apps, or view in Windows Programs and FeaturesAffected if Version displayed is 4.4 or earlier (for example, 4.0, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, or 4.4)
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Identify M4A file import usageSearch project directories for .m4a audio files or check the application for recent audio imports used with Character Animator projectsAffected if The application has imported or can import M4A audio files (this is a standard feature used for audio-driven lip sync)
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Review M4A file sourcesExamine the origin of any M4A files used in Character Animator projects, checking file provenance and source reliabilityAffected if User has opened or plans to open M4A files from untrusted or unknown sources
User is affected if Adobe Character Animator version 4.4 or earlier is installed and they open a specially crafted M4A file, since exploitation requires parsing the malicious audio file within the vulnerable application
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 Character Animator to a version newer than 4.4. Avoid opening untrusted M4A files from unknown sources until the patch is applied.
Latest version after 4.4 (verify via Adobe's official release notes)
- Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application
- Navigate to the Adobe Character Animator product
- Click on the 'Update' button if an update is available
- Alternatively, open Character Animator and go to Help > Check for Updates
- Download and install the latest version available
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 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 $1,376.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-40764 — 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-2021-40764 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