CVE-2021-26025
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2021-26025 is a memory corruption vulnerability in ACDSee Professional 2021's image processing component. When processing a specially crafted BMP image, it causes a user mode write access violation that could allow arbitrary code execution. This affects users of ACDSee Professional 2021 who open malicious BMP files.
💻 Affected Systems
- ACDSee Professional 2021
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution with the privileges of the user running ACDSee, potentially leading to full system compromise, data theft, or ransomware deployment.
Likely Case
Application crash (denial of service) when opening malicious BMP files, with potential for limited code execution depending on exploit reliability.
If Mitigated
Application crash without code execution if exploit fails or memory protections (ASLR/DEP) are effective.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploit requires user to open a malicious BMP file. Public proof-of-concept exists in GitHub repositories showing crash reproduction.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Later versions of ACDSee Professional 2021 (post 14.0 1721)
Vendor Advisory: https://www.acdsee.com/en/support/
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open ACDSee Professional 2021. 2. Go to Help > Check for Updates. 3. Follow prompts to download and install latest version. 4. Restart the application.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable BMP file association
windowsPrevent ACDSee from automatically opening BMP files by changing Windows file associations
Control Panel > Default Programs > Associate a file type or protocol with a program > Change .bmp to open with another application
Block suspicious BMP files
allUse email/web filtering to block BMP attachments and downloads
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict user permissions to limit potential damage from code execution
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized executables from running
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check ACDSee version: Open ACDSee > Help > About. If version is 14.0 Build 1721, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
Not applicable - check via GUI in Help > AboutVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is newer than 14.0 Build 1721 in Help > About dialog.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Application crash logs from ACDSee
- Windows Event Logs showing application faults (Event ID 1000)
Network Indicators:
- Unusual outbound connections from ACDSee process
SIEM Query:
EventID=1000 AND ProcessName="ACDSee*.exe" AND FaultModuleName="IDE_ACDStd.apl"