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After EffectsApplication · Adobe

CVE-2026-21323

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-02-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 25.6.4 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
After Effects versions 25.6 and earlier are affected by a Use After Free 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

After Effects versions 25.6 and earlier contain a Use After Free (UAF) memory corruption vulnerability. When a user opens a specially crafted malicious file, the application improperly accesses memory that has already been freed, potentially allowing an attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user session.

MitigationUpdate After Effects to a version newer than 25.6 when a patch is available. Until then, avoid opening 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
After EffectsApplication
Affected:< 25.6.4

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. Confirm After Effects is installed
    Check for After Effects installation by looking in standard application directories or using system package manager queries. On Windows, check C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects [version] or C:\Program Files\Adobe\After Effects [version]. On macOS, check /Applications/Adobe After Effects [version].
    Affected if After Effects is present on the system
  2. Identify the installed After Effects version
    Open After Effects and navigate to Help > About After Effects to display the version number. Alternatively, check the application properties or installed programs list on the system.
    Affected if The displayed version is 25.6.4 or lower, or any version before 25.6.4 (including 25.6.0 through 25.6.3 and earlier releases)
  3. Determine if user opens files from untrusted sources
    Review user behavior and file handling practices. Assess whether the After Effects workflow involves opening project files, footage, or assets from external or untrusted sources such as downloaded content, email attachments, or collaborative shares.
    Affected if Users routinely open project files or assets from untrusted or unknown sources without verification

A user is affected if After Effects version 25.6.4 or lower is installed and the user opens specially crafted malicious files, since the UAF vulnerability triggers upon opening such files

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 25.6.4 or later
Fixed in 25.6.4
Interim mitigation

Update After Effects to a version newer than 25.6 when a patch is available. Until then, avoid opening files from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

25.6.4 or later

  1. 1. Close Adobe After Effects if it is currently running
  2. 2. Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or navigate to adobe.com
  3. 3. Navigate to the After Effects product page or your installed apps
  4. 4. Check for available updates to After Effects
  5. 5. If version 25.6.4 or later is available, click Update to download and install the fixed version
  6. 6. Alternatively, download After Effects version 25.6.4 or later directly from helpx.adobe.com
  7. 7. Restart your computer after installation completes
  8. 8. Launch After Effects and verify the version is 25.6.4 or later under Help > About After Effects
Caveat Standard security patch upgrade with minimal risk; always backup projects before major version updates

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

Fix this in After Effects Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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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-2026-21323 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