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IllustratorApplication · Adobe

CVE-2021-43752

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-01-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 25.4.2 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Adobe Illustrator versions 25.4.2 (and earlier) and 26.0.1 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to bypass mitigations such as ASLR. 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 · high confidence

Adobe Illustrator versions 25.4.2 and earlier, and 26.0.1 and earlier contain an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that allows disclosure of sensitive memory contents. Successful exploitation enables attackers to bypass ASLR mitigation and could potentially facilitate further attacks. The attack vector requires user interaction—a victim must open a maliciously crafted file.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Illustrator to the latest patched version. Until patched, instruct users to avoid opening files from untrusted sources and consider deploying additional file-based detection controls.

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
IllustratorApplication
Affected:<= 25.4.2= 26.0= 26.0.1

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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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. Check if Adobe Illustrator is installed
    On Windows, open Control Panel > Programs and Features and look for Adobe Illustrator. On Mac, open Finder > Applications and look for Adobe Illustrator.
    Affected if Adobe Illustrator is present on the system
  2. Find the installed version number
    Open Adobe Illustrator, then go to Help > About Illustrator. The version number displays in the title bar or about dialog. Alternatively on Windows, right-click the application in Programs and Features and select Properties to view the version.
    Affected if Version cannot be determined or is in the affected range
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    Check if the installed version is 25.4.2 or lower, or exactly 26.0 or 26.0.1. These specific versions are affected: any release up to and including 25.4.2, plus the 26.0.x line versions 26.0 and 26.0.1.
    Affected if Installed version is <= 25.4.2 OR installed version is exactly 26.0 OR installed version is exactly 26.0.1
  4. Assess user interaction risk
    Since exploitation requires a user to open a maliciously crafted file, review whether users in your environment typically open files from external or untrusted sources. Check email gateways or endpoint detection for any suspected malicious .ai or related graphic files.
    Affected if Users routinely open files from untrusted sources and Illustrator version is vulnerable

If Adobe Illustrator version is 25.4.2 or earlier, or exactly 26.0 or 26.0.1, the environment is affected by this out-of-bounds read vulnerability.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 25.4.2
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Illustrator to the latest patched version. Until patched, instruct users to avoid opening files from untrusted sources and consider deploying additional file-based detection controls.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Adobe Illustrator 26.2 or later (security update for CVE-2021-43752)

  1. 1. Open Adobe Illustrator
  2. 2. Navigate to Help > Check for Updates to see if a newer version is available
  3. 3. Alternatively, visit the official Adobe security bulletin at helpx.adobe.com for the specific fixed version of Illustrator
  4. 4. Download and install the fixed version (security update that addresses CVE-2021-43752)
  5. 5. Verify the installed version matches the patched release after installation

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Illustrator Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2021-43752 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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