CVE-2026-21325
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 25.6 and earlier are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability when parsing a crafted file, which could result in a read past the end of an allocated memory structure. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to execute code 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 confidenceAfter Effects versions 25.6 and earlier contain an out-of-bounds read vulnerability when parsing crafted files, allowing an attacker to read past the end of allocated memory structures. Successful exploitation can lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user, but requires victim interaction (opening a malicious file).
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< 25.6.4CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Locate installed After Effects versionOpen After Effects, then go to Help > About After Effects. The version number appears in the title bar and the about dialog.Affected if The version shown is earlier than 25.6.4 (for example, 25.6, 25.5, 25.0, or any 24.x release)
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Check version via Creative Cloud desktop appOpen the Creative Cloud desktop app, navigate to the Apps tab, find After Effects in your installed apps, and view the version number listed.Affected if The listed version is below 25.6.4
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Verify Windows installation path and file versionLocate the After Effects executable (aerender.exe or AfterFX.exe) in the installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects 2025\Support Files\ or similar), right-click the file, select Properties, and check the File version field.Affected if The file version shown is less than 25.6.4.0 or the Product version field shows a number below 25.6.4
You are affected if any installed After Effects version is earlier than 25.6.4 and the application can open project files (which is the default behavior).
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 · scoped25.6.4
Organizations should implement user training to avoid opening untrusted After Effects files and consider endpoint protection mechanisms to detect malicious project files. Users should update to version 25.7 or later once Adobe releases the patch.
After Effects 25.6.4
- 1. Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or navigate to adobe.com/downloads
- 2. Check current installed version of After Effects via Help > About After Effects
- 3. Initiate update to After Effects version 25.6.4 or later
- 4. Wait for download and installation to complete
- 5. Restart After Effects and verify the version under Help > About After Effects shows 25.6.4 or higher
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-21325 — 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-2026-21325 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
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