CVE-2021-40787
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 Premiere Elements 20210809.daily.2242976 (and earlier) is affected by a memory corruption vulnerability due to insecure handling of a malicious 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 · moderate confidenceAdobe Premiere Elements versions 20210809.daily.2242976 and earlier contain a memory corruption vulnerability in the file parsing logic. When processing a specially crafted malicious file, the software insecurely handles memory operations leading to potential arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Successful exploitation requires user interaction, such as opening 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< 2021.4CVSS 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.
-
Identify installed Adobe Premiere Elements versionOpen Adobe Premiere Elements and go to Help > About Premiere Elements, or check Windows Add/Remove Programs for the version numberAffected if The displayed version is 2021.4 or earlier, or shows a build date before 20210809.daily.2242976
-
Confirm version falls within affected rangeCompare your installed version number and build date against the affected versions: any version earlier than 2021.4 or build earlier than 20210809.daily.2242976Affected if Your installed version is earlier than 2021.4 or your build number is 2242976 or earlier
-
Verify file parsing component is presentConfirm Adobe Premiere Elements is installed with full file import capabilities - the vulnerability exists in the media file parsing logic used when importing video or project filesAffected if Adobe Premiere Elements is installed and capable of importing media files, which enables the vulnerable parsing code path
You are affected if Adobe Premiere Elements version 2021.4 or earlier (or build 2242976 or earlier) is installed and the file parsing functionality is available for processing media 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 · scoped2021.4
Update Adobe Premiere Elements to the latest version available from Adobe to remediate this vulnerability. Users should avoid opening untrusted media files until the patch is applied.
Premiere Elements 2021.4 or later
- Open Adobe Premiere Elements
- Navigate to Help > Check for Updates to download and install version 2021.4 or later
- Alternatively, download the latest version directly from adobe.com
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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 $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-40787 — 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-2021-40787 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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