CVE-2021-42266
📋 TL;DR
Adobe Animate versions 21.0.9 and earlier contain a memory corruption vulnerability when processing malicious FLA files. This could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the current user. Exploitation requires user interaction, such as opening a specially crafted FLA file.
💻 Affected Systems
- Adobe Animate
📦 What is this software?
Animate by Adobe
⚠️ 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
Malware installation or data exfiltration after a user opens a malicious FLA file, often delivered via phishing or compromised websites.
If Mitigated
Limited impact due to user account restrictions, application sandboxing, or network segmentation preventing lateral movement.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening malicious file). No public exploit code was available at advisory publication.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 21.0.10 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/animate/apsb21-105.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Adobe Animate
2. Navigate to Help > Updates
3. Follow prompts to update to version 21.0.10 or later
4. Restart the application
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable FLA file association
allPrevent automatic opening of FLA files in Adobe Animate
Windows: Use 'Default Programs' settings to change FLA file association
macOS: Use 'Get Info' on FLA files to change 'Open With'
User awareness training
allTrain users not to open FLA files from untrusted sources
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict user privileges to limit impact of code execution
- Implement application whitelisting to block unauthorized executables
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Adobe Animate version via Help > About Adobe AnimateCheck Version:
Windows: wmic product where name="Adobe Animate" get version
macOS: /Applications/Adobe\ Animate\ 2021/Adobe\ Animate\ 2021.app/Contents/Info.plist | grep -A1 CFBundleShortVersionStringVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm version is 21.0.10 or later in Help > About Adobe Animate📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Application crashes with memory access violations
- Unexpected child processes spawned from Adobe Animate
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections from Adobe Animate to unexpected destinations
SIEM Query:
process_name:"Adobe Animate" AND (event_type:crash OR child_process_count > 1)