CVE-2021-42735
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 Photoshop version 22.5.1 (and earlier versions ) is affected by an Access of Memory Location After End of Buffer vulnerability, 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 confidenceAdobe Photoshop versions 22.5.1 and earlier contain a memory corruption vulnerability where the software accesses memory locations beyond allocated buffer boundaries. Exploitation requires a user to open a maliciously crafted 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<= 22.5.1CVSS 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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Identify installed Photoshop versionOpen Photoshop, go to Help > About Photoshop (Windows) or Photoshop > About Photoshop (Mac), or check the version in the application launcher/store listingAffected if Version displayed is 22.5.1 or lower
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Confirm version via system registry (Windows)Open Windows Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Photoshop\InstallVersion, or for 64-bit HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Adobe\Photoshop\InstallVersion, and read the Version valueAffected if The version value is 22.5.1 or lower
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Verify application file version (alternative)Locate Photoshop.exe in the installation directory (commonly C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2022\ or C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2021\), right-click the file, select Properties, and check the File version on the Details tabAffected if The file version shown is 22.5.1 or lower
If the installed Adobe Photoshop version is 22.5.1 or earlier, the environment is affected by this vulnerability and could allow arbitrary code execution if a user opens a maliciously crafted file.
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 Photoshop to version 22.5.2 or later via Adobe's official update mechanism or patch management system.
Adobe Photoshop 22.5.2 or later (or the latest 2022 release)
- Open Adobe Photoshop
- Navigate to Help > Check for Updates to automatically download and install the latest version
- Alternatively, download Photoshop version 22.5.2 or later from the official Adobe website (get.adobe.com/photoshop)
- Restart Photoshop after the update completes
- Verify the installed version by going to Help > About Photoshop and confirm the version number is 22.5.2 or higher
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-42735 — 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-2021-42735 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