dbcve.org
IllustratorApplication · Adobe

CVE-2026-21333

HIGH · 8.6 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 29.8.5 / 30.2 or later.
See remediation →
89/100
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
Illustrator versions 29.8.4, 30.1 and earlier are affected by an Untrusted Search Path vulnerability that might allow attackers to execute arbitrary 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 confidence

Adobe Illustrator versions 29.8.4, 30.1 and earlier contain an Untrusted Search Path vulnerability that allows arbitrary code execution via malicious DLL loading. When a victim opens a specially crafted file, the application may load libraries from attacker-controlled locations instead of trusted paths, executing arbitrary code in the current user's context.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Illustrator to the latest vendor-patched version. Until patched, avoid opening files from untrusted sources and ensure the application directory is not writable by unprivileged users.

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
IllustratorApplication
Affected:>= 29.0, < 29.8.5>= 30.0, < 30.2

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
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/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. Find installed Adobe Illustrator version
    Open Adobe Illustrator, go to Help > About Illustrator, or check the version in the application metadata via the Windows Registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Illustrator\InstallPath or macOS /Applications/Adobe Illustrator.app/Contents/Info.plist
    Affected if The displayed version is 29.x before 29.8.5, or 30.x before 30.2
  2. Confirm the version is within affected range
    Compare your installed version number against the vulnerable ranges: 29.0 through 29.8.4 inclusive, or 30.0 through 30.1 inclusive
    Affected if Your version falls within either 29.0 to 29.8.4 or 30.0 to 30.1
  3. Check if application directory is writable by non-admin users
    On Windows, right-click the Illustrator installation folder (typically C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator [Version]), select Properties > Security, and verify write permissions for standard users. On macOS, check permissions via Get Info on the Adobe Illustrator app bundle
    Affected if Standard users or unprivileged accounts have write access to the Illustrator installation directory
  4. Inspect DLL search order behavior
    Open Illustrator and attempt to load a test file from a network share or external drive while monitoring with Process Monitor (Sysinternals) to see if the application attempts to load DLLs from the file's directory path
    Affected if The application loads DLLs from the same directory as the opened file rather than only from trusted system paths

You are affected if Adobe Illustrator version 29.0-29.8.4 or 30.0-30.1 is installed AND the application directory is writable by unprivileged users OR you open files from untrusted or network locations.

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 29.8.5 / 30.2 or later
Fixed in 29.8.530.2
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Illustrator to the latest vendor-patched version. Until patched, avoid opening files from untrusted sources and ensure the application directory is not writable by unprivileged users.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Illustrator 29.8.5 (for 29.x branch) or Adobe Illustrator 30.2 (for 30.x branch)

  1. 1. Open the Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application on your system
  2. 2. Navigate to the 'Apps' section in the left sidebar
  3. 3. Locate Adobe Illustrator in the list of installed applications
  4. 4. Click on the 'Update' button next to Illustrator, or if the specific version is available, select version 29.8.5 or 30.2
  5. 5. Wait for the download and installation to complete
  6. 6. Restart Illustrator after the update finishes
  7. 7. Verify the installed version by going to Help > About Adobe Illustrator to confirm you are on 29.8.5 or 30.2
Caveat Minor version updates typically do not introduce breaking changes; however, always review Adobe's release notes for any notable changes or known issues before updating

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

Fix this in Illustrator Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.

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-2026-21333 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