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After EffectsApplication · Adobe

CVE-2022-27784

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-05-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 22.2.1 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
Adobe After Effects versions 22.2.1 (and earlier) and 18.4.5 (and earlier) are affected by a stack overflow vulnerability due to insecure handling of a crafted file, 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 in After Effects.

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 After Effects contains a stack overflow vulnerability in the handling of crafted files. When a user opens a specially crafted file, the insecure handling causes a stack overflow that can be leveraged for arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user's privileges.

MitigationUpdate Adobe After Effects to version 22.3 or later (for 22.x branch) or 18.4.6 or later (for 18.x branch). Avoid opening untrusted or unexpected files in After Effects.

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
After EffectsApplication
Affected:<= 18.4.5>= 22.0, <= 22.2.1

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
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 installed After Effects version
    On Windows, open Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\After Effects\ or check via Help > About After Effects in the application. On macOS, check /Applications/Adobe After Effects or right-click the app and select Get Info.
    Affected if The installed version falls within the affected ranges: 18.x versions up to and including 18.4.5, or 22.0 through 22.2.1.
  2. Confirm After Effects is present on the system
    Search for 'After Effects' in installed programs (Windows: Control Panel > Programs and Features, macOS: Applications folder).
    Affected if Adobe After Effects is installed on the system.
  3. Verify the specific vulnerable version number
    Locate the exact version number from the version check step and compare it against the affected ranges: versions 18.4.5 and below, or versions 22.0 through 22.2.1 are vulnerable.
    Affected if The installed version matches one of these ranges: <= 18.4.5 or >= 22.0 AND <= 22.2.1.

The system is affected if Adobe After Effects is installed and the installed version is either 18.4.5 or lower, or between 22.0 and 22.2.1 inclusive; however, exploitation requires a user to open a specially crafted file in After Effects.

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 22.2.1
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe After Effects to version 22.3 or later (for 22.x branch) or 18.4.6 or later (for 18.x branch). Avoid opening untrusted or unexpected files in After Effects.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe After Effects 22.3.0 or later (or migrate to 23.x which includes the fix)

  1. 1. Close Adobe After Effects completely before updating
  2. 2. Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application
  3. 3. Navigate to the 'Apps' section
  4. 4. Find Adobe After Effects in the installed applications list
  5. 5. Click the 'Update' button next to After Effects to install the latest version
  6. 6. Alternatively, manually download the latest version from Adobe's official website at adobe.com
  7. 7. After installation, verify the version number matches or exceeds the fixed release (22.3.0 or later for 22.x line)
  8. 8. Restart After Effects and confirm it launches successfully
Caveat Newer versions may have changed features, workflow differences, and potential project file compatibility changes - test important projects before full migration

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

Fix this in After Effects Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,150
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,440.

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-2022-27784 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