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BridgeApplication · Adobe

CVE-2021-45051

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-01-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 11.1.3 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 Bridge version 11.1.2 (and earlier) and version 12.0 (and earlier) are affected by an use-after-free vulnerability in the processing of Format event actions 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 Bridge contains a use-after-free vulnerability in the processing of Format event actions. When a victim opens a specially crafted malicious file, the vulnerability can be triggered, leading to disclosure of sensitive memory contents and enabling bypass of ASLR mitigation. Exploitation requires user interaction in the form of opening the malicious file.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Bridge to the latest patched version (11.1.3 or later for the 11.x branch, 12.0.1 or later for the 12.x branch). Implement application whitelisting and user training to avoid opening untrusted files as an additional defense-in-depth measure.

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
BridgeApplication
Affected:< 11.1.3= 12.0

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. Determine installed Adobe Bridge version
    Open Adobe Bridge and navigate to Help > About Adobe Bridge, or right-click the Adobe Bridge executable (Bridge.exe) in the installation directory and select Properties > Details to view the Product Version
    Affected if Version shows 12.0 or any 11.x version below 11.1.3 (for example 11.0.0 through 11.1.2)
  2. Locate Adobe Bridge installation directory
    Common paths include C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Bridge 2022\ or C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Bridge CC 2021\. Verify the exact folder name matches your installed version
    Affected if The installation folder exists and contains Bridge.exe, indicating the software is present
  3. Confirm Windows registry version entry
    Open Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\Bridge.exe, or check HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Bridge\[version] for the ProductVersion value
    Affected if Registry entry shows a version number matching the affected range (< 11.1.3 or = 12.0)

You are affected if Adobe Bridge is installed and its version is either 12.0 exactly or any version in the 11.x branch prior to 11.1.3.

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 11.1.3 or later
Fixed in 11.1.3
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Bridge to the latest patched version (11.1.3 or later for the 11.x branch, 12.0.1 or later for the 12.x branch). Implement application whitelisting and user training to avoid opening untrusted files as an additional defense-in-depth measure.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Bridge 11.1.3 (for 11.x branch) or Adobe Bridge 12.0.1+ (for 12.x branch)

  1. 1. Open Adobe Bridge application on your system.
  2. 2. Go to Help menu and select 'Check for Updates' to see if version 11.1.3 or 12.0.1 is available.
  3. 3. Alternatively, download the latest Adobe Bridge version from the official Adobe website (get.adobe.com/bridge).
  4. 4. Install the updated version (11.1.3 for version 11.x users, or 12.0.1+ for version 12.0 users).
  5. 5. Restart Adobe Bridge after the update completes.
  6. 6. Verify the installed version by going to Help > About Adobe Bridge to confirm the fix is applied.

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

Fix this in Bridge Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

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-2021-45051 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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