dbcve.org
Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2021-42529

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-05-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2021.07 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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 · unedited
XMP Toolkit SDK version 2021.07 (and earlier) is affected by a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability potentially resulting in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Exploitation requires user interaction in that a victim must open a crafted 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 confidence

The XMP Toolkit SDK versions 2021.07 and earlier contain a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability. When processing a specially crafted file, the SDK fails to properly validate input size before copying data to a stack-allocated buffer, allowing an attacker to overwrite return addresses and potentially execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user.

MitigationUpdate the XMP Toolkit SDK to a version newer than 2021.07, and exercise caution when opening files from untrusted sources until the update is applied.

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
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 10.0
Xmp Toolkit Software Development KitApplication
Affected:<= 2021.07

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if Adobe XMP Toolkit SDK is installed
    Search for XMP Toolkit files on the system. On Windows, check common installation paths like C:\Program Files\Adobe\ or search for files named 'XMP*.dll'. On Linux, look for libxmp files in /usr/lib/ or search using 'find / -name "*xmp*" 2>/dev/null'. Check installed packages using 'dpkg -l | grep -i xmp' on Debian-based systems.
    Affected if Adobe XMP Toolkit SDK or any library using XMP Toolkit is present on the system
  2. Determine the installed version of XMP Toolkit SDK
    For installed Adobe XMP Toolkit SDK, check version information in the SDK's ReadMe.txt, release notes, or the DLL/so file properties. On Windows, right-click the XMP DLL and select Properties > Details to view the File Version. On Linux, check the library version using 'dpkg -l | grep -i xmp' or examine the .so file with 'strings' or 'objdump'.
    Affected if The discovered version is 2021.07 or any earlier version (versions prior to the fixed release)
  3. Identify software that depends on XMP Toolkit
    Review installed applications that handle XMP metadata, such as Adobe products (Photoshop, Acrobat, Lightroom), PDF tools, or image processing software. Use 'ldd' on Linux to check which installed binaries link against libxmp (e.g., 'ldd /path/to/binary | grep -i xmp'). On Windows, use dependency walker tools to identify XMP dependencies.
    Affected if Any application using the vulnerable XMP Toolkit library version <= 2021.07 is installed
  4. Check Debian Linux version if applicable
    If running Debian Linux, verify the version by running 'cat /etc/debian_version' or 'lsb_release -a'. The affected version is Debian 10.0 (Buster).
    Affected if The system is running Debian 10.0 and has XMP-related packages installed

You are affected if the Adobe XMP Toolkit SDK version 2021.07 or earlier, or any software bundling that version of the XMP Toolkit, is installed and processes XMP-containing files.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2021.07
Interim mitigation

Update the XMP Toolkit SDK to a version newer than 2021.07, and exercise caution when opening files from untrusted sources until the update is applied.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,120
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,992.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-42529 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-42529 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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