CVE-2021-42272
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 Animate version 21.0.9 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds write vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious GIF 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 confidenceAdobe Animate versions 21.0.9 and earlier contain an out-of-bounds write vulnerability that can be triggered by opening a specially crafted malicious GIF file, leading to 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<= 21.0.9CVSS 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:3.0/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 Animate is installedCheck for Adobe Animate installation directory under Program Files or Program Files (x86), typically named 'Adobe\Adobe Animate 2021' or similar, and confirm Animate.exe existsAffected if Adobe Animate executable is found on the system
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Retrieve installed Adobe Animate versionRight-click Animate.exe, select Properties, then inspect the File Version field on the Details tab, or use PowerShell: Get-Item 'C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Animate 2021\Animate.exe' | Select-Object -ExpandProperty VersionInfoAffected if Version number displayed is 21.0.9 or earlier (e.g., 21.0.0 through 21.0.9)
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Confirm version falls within vulnerable rangeCompare the retrieved version against the affected range. Adobe Animate version numbers follow the format XX.0.X where XX represents the major release year (21 for 2021). All versions 21.0.9 and earlier are vulnerable.Affected if The installed version is 21.0.9 or any earlier 21.0.x release
If Adobe Animate is installed and the version is 21.0.9 or earlier, the environment is vulnerable to this CVE.
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 Animate to version 21.0.10 or later and exercise caution when opening GIF files from untrusted sources.
Adobe Animate 22.0 or later
- 1. Close Adobe Animate if it is currently running
- 2. Download Adobe Animate version 22.0 or later from the official Adobe website (get.adobe.com/animate) or through the Creative Cloud desktop application
- 3. Run the installer and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation
- 4. Verify the installed version by opening Animate and navigating to Help > About Adobe Animate
- 5. Ensure the version displayed is 22.0 or higher
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-42272 — 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-2021-42272 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