CVE-2026-21330
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 Access of Resource Using Incompatible Type ('Type Confusion') 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 confidenceAfter Effects versions 25.6 and earlier contain a type confusion vulnerability that allows arbitrary code execution when a user opens a malicious file. The vulnerability stems from improper type handling that can be exploited to execute code in the context of the current user.
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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Verify After Effects is installedWindows: Check for After Effects in Program Files\Adobe or query registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\After Effects\InstalledVersion; macOS: Verify /Applications/Adobe After Effects folder existsAffected if After Effects application is present on the system
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Determine installed version numberWindows: Run After Effects and go to Help > About After Effects, or read the ProductVersion value from the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\After Effects\InstalledVersion; macOS: Right-click After Effects app in Applications > Get Info, or run 'mdls -name kCFBundleShortVersionString /Applications/Adobe\ After\ Effects/*.app'Affected if Version cannot be determined or is below 25.6.4
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Compare version to vulnerable rangeCompare the identified version against the affected range: any version less than 25.6.4 (including 25.6, 25.5, 25.0, 24.x, and earlier) is vulnerableAffected if Installed version is 25.6 or earlier, or any version below 25.6.4
The environment is affected if Adobe After Effects is installed and the version is less than 25.6.4, making the type confusion vulnerability exploitable when opening malicious files
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
Apply the vendor security update from Adobe for After Effects when available. Until then, warn users against opening files from untrusted sources and consider isolating After Effects in a restricted environment.
Adobe After Effects 25.6.4
- Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application on your system
- Navigate to the Updates section or find After Effects in your installed apps
- Look for After Effects version 25.6.4 or later update
- Click Update to download and install the security patch
- Alternatively, open After Effects and go to Help > Check for Updates to find and install the update
- Restart After Effects after the update completes to ensure the patch is fully applied
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-21330 — 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-2026-21330 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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