CVE-2024-20737
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 · uneditedAfter Effects versions 24.1, 23.6.2 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 confidenceAfter Effects versions 24.1, 23.6.2 and earlier contain an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that allows disclosure of sensitive memory contents. An attacker can craft a malicious file that, when opened by a victim, leaks memory addresses and potentially bypasses ASLR mitigation. This is a file-based attack requiring user interaction.
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< 23.6.5>= 24.0, < 24.2CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Locate installed After Effects versionOpen Adobe After Effects, go to Help > About After Effects. Alternatively, check the installed programs list in Windows Settings > Apps & Features or macOS Applications folder, or examine the executable file properties for version information.Affected if The version displayed is 23.6.5 or earlier, or is 24.0 or 24.1 (any version >= 24.0 but < 24.2)
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Confirm After Effects is accessible for file processingVerify that the After Effects application can be launched and used to open project files (.aep, .aepx). The vulnerability triggers when parsing specially crafted project files.Affected if After Effects is installed and capable of opening project files
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Identify if files from untrusted sources are commonly openedReview user behavior or system logs for recent .aep or .aepx file openings. Check browser download histories or email attachments for After Effects project files.Affected if Users open After Effects project files from downloads, email attachments, or other untrusted sources
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Examine for crash logs or anomalous memory artifactsCheck Adobe Crash Reporter logs in %ProgramData%\Adobe\CrashReporter\ (Windows) or ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/ (macOS). Look for After Effects crash dumps that may indicate exploitation attempts.Affected if Crash logs exist for After Effects that involve memory access errors or out-of-bounds reads
You are affected if After Effects version is less than 23.6.5, or is 24.0 or 24.1, and users in your environment open After Effects project files from untrusted sources.
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 · scoped23.6.524.2
Update After Effects to the latest patched version. Additionally, implement user awareness training to prevent opening files from untrusted sources, and consider endpoint protection solutions that scan files before opening.
After Effects 23.6.5 or 24.2 (or later)
- 1. Close any running instances of Adobe After Effects
- 2. Navigate to the official Adobe download page at adobe.com or use Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application
- 3. Download After Effects version 23.6.5 (for 23.x branch users) or version 24.2 or later (for 24.x branch users)
- 4. Run the installer and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation
- 5. After installation, verify the version by opening After Effects and checking Help > About After Effects
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-20737 — 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-2024-20737 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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- 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