CVE-2021-40738
📋 TL;DR
Adobe Audition versions 14.4 and earlier contain a memory corruption vulnerability when parsing WAV files. Attackers can exploit this to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the current user. Exploitation requires user interaction, such as opening a malicious WAV file.
💻 Affected Systems
- Adobe Audition
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise via arbitrary code execution with user privileges, potentially leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or lateral movement.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation or malware installation when a user opens a malicious WAV file, resulting in compromised user accounts and data.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper patching and user awareness, potentially only crashing the application without code execution.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening malicious file). No public exploit code available at disclosure time.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 14.4.1 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' tab. 3. Find Adobe Audition and click 'Update'. 4. Restart computer after update completes.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable WAV file association
allPrevent Audition from automatically opening WAV files by changing file associations
Windows: Control Panel > Default Programs > Associate a file type or protocol with a program
macOS: Right-click WAV file > Get Info > Open With > Change
User awareness training
allTrain users to avoid opening WAV files from untrusted sources
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict user permissions to limit impact of code execution
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized executables
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Adobe Audition version in Help > About Adobe AuditionCheck Version:
Windows: wmic product where name='Adobe Audition' get version
macOS: /Applications/Adobe Audition 2021/Adobe Audition 2021.app/Contents/Info.plistVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 14.4.1 or later in Help > About Adobe Audition📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Application crashes when opening WAV files
- Unexpected process creation from Audition.exe
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections from Audition process to unknown IPs
SIEM Query:
Process Creation where Image contains 'audition' AND ParentImage contains 'explorer'