CVE-2021-28620
📋 TL;DR
Adobe Animate versions 21.0.6 and earlier contain a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability that allows arbitrary code execution when a user opens a malicious file. Attackers can exploit this to run code with the victim's privileges, requiring user interaction through file opening. This affects all users running vulnerable versions of Adobe Animate.
💻 Affected Systems
- Adobe Animate
📦 What is this software?
Animate by Adobe
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise with attacker gaining full control of the victim's computer, data theft, ransomware deployment, and lateral movement within the network.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation leading to malware installation, credential theft, and persistence mechanisms being established on the affected system.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper application sandboxing and user privilege restrictions, potentially containing the exploit to the application context.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening malicious file) but the vulnerability itself is unauthenticated and has low complexity once the file is opened.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 21.0.7 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/animate/apsb21-50.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Adobe Animate. 2. Go to Help > Check for Updates. 3. Follow prompts to install version 21.0.7 or later. 4. Restart Adobe Animate after installation.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable automatic file opening
allConfigure system to not automatically open downloaded files and require explicit user action
Application sandboxing
allRun Adobe Animate in restricted environments or sandboxes to limit potential damage
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unauthorized applications
- Deploy endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to monitor for suspicious file execution
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Adobe Animate version via Help > About Adobe Animate. If version is 21.0.6 or earlier, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
On Windows: Check registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Animate\XX.X\InstallPath. On macOS: Check /Applications/Adobe Animate XX/Adobe Animate.app/Contents/Info.plistVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 21.0.7 or later via Help > About Adobe Animate and test with known safe files.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected process crashes of Adobe Animate
- Creation of suspicious child processes from Adobe Animate
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections from Adobe Animate to unusual destinations
- DNS requests for known malicious domains
SIEM Query:
Process creation where parent process contains 'Animate' AND (command line contains suspicious patterns OR child process is unusual)