dbcve.org
AnimateApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-22243

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-02-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 22.0.8 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 Animate versions 22.0.8 (and earlier) and 23.0.0 (and earlier) are affected by a Stack-based Buffer Overflow vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. 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 Animate versions 22.0.8 and earlier, and 23.0.0 and earlier contain a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability. This occurs when the application writes data beyond the bounds of a fixed-size buffer allocated on the stack, potentially allowing an attacker to overwrite return addresses and achieve arbitrary code execution. Exploitation requires a victim to open a specially crafted malicious file.

MitigationApply the vendor security update to Adobe Animate to the latest patched version. Users should avoid opening untrusted or unexpected .fla files or other Animate project files from untrusted sources.

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
AnimateApplication
Affected:>= 22.0.0, <= 22.0.8= 23.0.0

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
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. Verify Adobe Animate installation
    On Windows, check for the application in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Animate or use system inventory tools. On macOS, check /Applications/ for Adobe Animate.app
    Affected if Adobe Animate software is present on the system
  2. Identify installed version on Windows
    Right-click the Animate.exe file in the installation folder, select Properties, and view the File Version field under the Details tab. Alternatively, open Adobe Animate and go to Help > About Adobe Animate to see the exact version number
    Affected if Adobe Animate is installed and the version displays as 22.0.x where x is 0-8, or exactly 23.0.0
  3. Identify installed version on macOS
    Right-click Adobe Animate.app in Applications, select Get Info, and view the version number under the General information section
    Affected if Adobe Animate is installed and the version displays as 22.0.x where x is 0-8, or exactly 23.0.0
  4. Compare against affected version range
    If the version is 22.0.0 through 22.0.8 or exactly 23.0.0, the installation falls within the affected range listed in the CVE
    Affected if The installed version number matches 22.0.0, 22.0.1, 22.0.2, 22.0.3, 22.0.4, 22.0.5, 22.0.6, 22.0.7, 22.0.8, or 23.0.0

The environment is affected if Adobe Animate is installed and the version is 22.0.0 through 22.0.8 or exactly 23.0.0, since the stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability can be triggered when opening specially crafted .fla files in these versions.

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 22.0.8
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor security update to Adobe Animate to the latest patched version. Users should avoid opening untrusted or unexpected .fla files or other Animate project files from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Adobe Animate 22.0.9 or later (22.x line), or 23.0.1 or later (23.x line)

  1. 1. Close Adobe Animate if it is currently running.
  2. 2. Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or navigate to the Adobe Animate download page.
  3. 3. Check for available updates to Adobe Animate.
  4. 4. If an update is available, download and install the latest version of Adobe Animate.
  5. 5. After installation, verify the installed version by opening Animate and checking Help > About Adobe Animate.
  6. 6. Ensure the version number is 22.0.9 or later, or 23.0.1 or later.
Caveat Minor version upgrades typically include bug fixes and security patches with minimal compatibility issues; however, always test important projects after updating software.

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

Fix this in Animate 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
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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-2023-22243 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