CVE-2021-40789
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 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 · moderate confidenceAdobe Premiere Elements contains a null pointer dereference vulnerability when parsing specially crafted files. An unauthenticated attacker can trigger this vulnerability by convincing a user to open a malicious file, causing the application to crash and resulting in denial-of-service. The vulnerability affects version 20210809.daily.2242976 and all earlier versions.
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
- 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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Verify Adobe Premiere Elements is installedCheck for the presence of Adobe Premiere Elements on the system. Common installation paths include C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Premiere Elements [version] on Windows or /Applications/Adobe Premiere Elements on macOS. Use system inventory or package management tools to confirm installation.Affected if Adobe Premiere Elements is not installed on the system, the vulnerability does not apply.
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Identify the installed version of Adobe Premiere ElementsLocate the version information for the installed Adobe Premiere Elements. On Windows, right-click the Premiere Elements shortcut or executable, select Properties, and check the Details tab for File Version or Product Version. On macOS, right-click the application in Finder, select Get Info, and check the version under Name and Version. Alternatively, check the registry (Windows: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Premiere Elements) or the version file in the application directory.Affected if Unable to determine the installed version, assume the system may be affected and treat as vulnerable until verified.
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Compare installed version against affected rangesThe affected version range includes version 20210809.daily.2242976 and all earlier versions, which corresponds to versions prior to 2021.4. If the installed version is 2021.4 or later, the system is not affected by this CVE. For versions before 2021.4, including the daily build 20210809.daily.2242976, the system is vulnerable.Affected if The installed version is earlier than 2021.4 (including 20210809.daily.2242976 or any prior version), the environment is affected by this vulnerability.
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Confirm file parsing functionality is accessibleThe vulnerability is triggered when the application parses specially crafted files. Verify that the application retains its file parsing capabilities and has not been configured to disable media file import. This is the default state upon installation. Check if any application policies or configurations have restricted file type associations or disabled the file import features.Affected if The application can still parse media files (default state), the vulnerability is reachable if a user opens a malicious file.
The environment is affected if Adobe Premiere Elements is installed with a version earlier than 2021.4 (including version 20210809.daily.2242976 and earlier), and the application retains its default file parsing functionality.
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
Apply the vendor-supplied patch when available, and educate users to avoid opening files from untrusted sources. Until a patch is released, consider restricting file types or using application sandboxing as compensating controls.
Adobe Premiere Elements 2021.4
- 1. Close Adobe Premiere Elements if it is currently running
- 2. Back up any existing projects and custom presets as a precaution
- 3. Download Adobe Premiere Elements version 2021.4 or later from the official Adobe website (helpx.adobe.com)
- 4. Run the installer and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the upgrade
- 5. After installation, verify the version by opening Premiere Elements and checking Help > About Premiere Elements
- 6. Ensure the installed version displays 2021.4 or higher
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-40789 — 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-2021-40789 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