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AnimateApplication · Adobe

CVE-2026-48346

HIGH · 7.9 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-07-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 23.0.16 / 24.0.14 or later.
See remediation →
79/100
Remediation priority · High
5 weeks old

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
Animate is affected by an Untrusted Search Path 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. Scope is changed.

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 · moderate confidence

Adobe Animate is vulnerable to an Untrusted Search Path (DLL Hijacking) vulnerability where the application loads dynamic-link libraries from locations that can be controlled by untrusted users. When a victim opens a malicious file, the application may inadvertently load a malicious DLL from a compromised or attacker-controlled directory, resulting in arbitrary code execution within the user's context.

MitigationUsers should avoid opening Animate files from untrusted or unverified sources. Organizations should ensure Animate is installed in secured directories with restricted permissions and monitor for the release of vendor security patches.

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
AnimateApplication
Affected:>= 23.0.0, < 23.0.16>= 24.0.0, < 24.0.14

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
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Adobe Animate version
    Open Adobe Animate, go to Help > About Adobe Animate, or right-click the Animate.exe file and select Properties > Details to view the Product Version
    Affected if The displayed version falls within 23.0.0 to 23.0.15 or 24.0.0 to 24.0.13
  2. Verify version via Windows Registry
    Open Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Animate (or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Adobe\Adobe Animate for 32-bit on 64-bit systems), then locate the version value
    Affected if The version value matches the affected ranges listed above
  3. Confirm installation location permissions
    Right-click the Adobe Animate installation folder (typically in Program Files), select Properties > Security, and verify that standard users do not have Write or Modify permissions to the root installation directory
    Affected if Users with limited privileges can write or modify files in the Adobe Animate installation directory, which could enable DLL hijacking

A user is affected if their installed Adobe Animate version is 23.0.0 through 23.0.15 or 24.0.0 through 24.0.13, and the application is installed in a directory with weak access controls.

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 23.0.16 / 24.0.14 or later
Fixed in 23.0.1624.0.14
Interim mitigation

Users should avoid opening Animate files from untrusted or unverified sources. Organizations should ensure Animate is installed in secured directories with restricted permissions and monitor for the release of vendor security patches.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Adobe Animate 23.0.16 (for 23.x versions) or 24.0.14 (for 24.x versions)

  1. 1. Verify the currently installed Adobe Animate version by launching the application and navigating to Help > About Adobe Animate
  2. 2. Close Adobe Animate completely before updating
  3. 3. Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application
  4. 4. Navigate to the Apps section and locate Adobe Animate in the list of installed applications
  5. 5. Click the Update button next to Adobe Animate if an update is available
  6. 6. Wait for the update to download and install completely
  7. 7. Restart Adobe Anonic after the update completes
  8. 8. Verify the version has updated to 23.0.16 (if previously on 23.x) or 24.0.14 (if previously on 24.x) via Help > About Adobe Animate
Caveat Minor: Verify that existing Animate projects (.fla, .xfl files) open correctly in the updated version before deploying to production workflows

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

Fix this in Animate Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $3,000
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,800.

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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-2026-48346 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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