CVE-2021-40765
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 confidenceMemory corruption vulnerability in Adobe Character Animator's M4A file parser that can be triggered by a specially crafted M4A file, potentially allowing 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<= 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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Verify Adobe Character Animator is installedCheck for Adobe Character Animator in the system. On Windows, look in Program Files or check the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe. On macOS, check /Applications for Adobe Character Animator.appAffected if Adobe Character Animator is not found on the system, then this CVE does not apply
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Determine installed version numberOpen Adobe Character Animator, then go to Help > About Adobe Character Animator to display the version number. Alternatively, check the application properties in the installation directoryAffected if The version cannot be determined, but the product is installed - treat as potentially affected
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Compare version against affected rangeCompare the installed version to the affected range. Versions 4.4 and below are affected. Versions greater than 4.4 are not affectedAffected if Installed version is 4.4 or lower - the environment is affected by this vulnerability
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Confirm M4A file handling is presentAdobe Character Animator includes M4A file parsing capability by default for importing audio. This feature is built into the application's file import functionalityAffected if Adobe Character Animator is installed with its default M4A parsing capability, the vulnerable code path is present in the application
If Adobe Character Animator version 4.4 or lower is installed, the environment is affected by this vulnerability in the M4A file parser
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 to obtain the vendor patch addressing this vulnerability.
Adobe Character Animator 4.5 or later
- 1. Open Adobe Character Animator
- 2. Navigate to Help > Check for Updates
- 3. If an update to version 4.5 or later is available, download and install it
- 4. Alternatively, download the latest version of Adobe Character Animator from the official Adobe website
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
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-40765 — 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-2021-40765 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