CVE-2021-40735
📋 TL;DR
A memory corruption vulnerability in Adobe Audition versions 14.4 and earlier could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected systems. Exploitation requires user interaction, such as opening a malicious file. Users running vulnerable versions of Adobe Audition are at risk.
💻 Affected Systems
- Adobe Audition
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise with attacker gaining full control of the user's computer, allowing data theft, ransomware deployment, or lateral movement within networks.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation leading to data exfiltration, malware installation, or persistence mechanisms being established on the compromised system.
If Mitigated
Limited impact due to user account restrictions, with potential data loss but no system-wide compromise if proper privilege separation exists.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening malicious file) and memory corruption techniques. No public exploit code has been reported.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 14.5 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/audition/apsb21-92.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Adobe Creative Cloud application. 2. Navigate to 'Apps' section. 3. Find Adobe Audition and click 'Update'. 4. Alternatively, download latest version from Adobe website. 5. Restart computer after installation.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict file execution
allPrevent execution of untrusted Audition project files
Application control
windowsUse application whitelisting to restrict Audition to trusted directories
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict user privileges to standard user accounts (not administrator)
- Implement application sandboxing or virtualization for Adobe Audition usage
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Open Adobe Audition, go to Help > About Audition, check if version is 14.4 or earlierCheck Version:
On Windows: wmic product where name="Adobe Audition" get version
On macOS: /Applications/Adobe Audition 2021/Adobe Audition 2021.app/Contents/Info.plist | grep -A1 CFBundleShortVersionStringVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 14.5 or later in Help > About Audition📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected Audition crashes
- Suspicious file opens in Audition
- Unusual process creation from Audition
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections from Audition to unknown IPs
- DNS requests for suspicious domains
SIEM Query:
Process Creation where Image contains "Audition" AND ParentImage not in ("explorer.exe", "Creative Cloud.exe")