CVE-2024-30294
📋 TL;DR
Adobe Animate versions 24.0.2, 23.0.5 and earlier contain a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability that could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code on a victim's system when they open a malicious file. This affects users of Adobe Animate who open untrusted animation files. The vulnerability requires user interaction but could lead to full system compromise.
💻 Affected Systems
- Adobe Animate
📦 What is this software?
Animate by Adobe
Animate by Adobe
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system takeover with attacker gaining the same privileges as the current user, potentially leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or persistent backdoor installation.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation leading to unauthorized access to sensitive files, system configuration changes, or installation of additional malware.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper application sandboxing and user privilege restrictions, potentially only affecting user data within the application context.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening malicious file). No public exploit code has been reported as of the advisory date.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 24.0.3 and 23.0.6
Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/animate/apsb24-36.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Adobe Creative Cloud application. 2. Navigate to the 'Apps' section. 3. Find Adobe Animate and click 'Update'. 4. Alternatively, download the update directly from Adobe's website. 5. Restart the application after installation.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable automatic file opening
allConfigure Adobe Animate to not automatically open files and require explicit user confirmation
Restrict file associations
windowsRemove Adobe Animate as default handler for animation files to prevent automatic execution
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unauthorized Adobe Animate instances
- Restrict user privileges to standard user accounts to limit potential damage from exploitation
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Adobe Animate version via Help > About Adobe Animate. If version is 24.0.2 or earlier, or 23.0.5 or earlier, the system is vulnerable.Check Version:
On Windows: wmic product where name='Adobe Animate' get version. On macOS: /Applications/Adobe\ Animate\ 2024/Adobe\ Animate\ 2024.app/Contents/Info.plist (check CFBundleShortVersionString)Verify Fix Applied:
Verify Adobe Animate version is 24.0.3 or later, or 23.0.6 or later after applying the update.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected process crashes of Adobe Animate
- Unusual file access patterns from Adobe Animate process
- Creation of unexpected child processes from Adobe Animate
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections from Adobe Animate to unexpected destinations
- DNS queries for suspicious domains from Adobe Animate process
SIEM Query:
process_name:"Animate.exe" AND (event_type:"process_crash" OR parent_process_name:"Animate.exe" AND process_name NOT IN ("expected_child_processes"))