CVE-2024-52982
📋 TL;DR
Adobe Animate versions 23.0.8, 24.0.5 and earlier contain an improper input validation vulnerability that allows arbitrary code execution when a user opens a malicious file. This affects users of Adobe Animate on any operating system who open untrusted animation files. The attacker gains the same privileges as the current user.
💻 Affected Systems
- Adobe Animate
📦 What is this software?
Animate by Adobe
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
Malware installation, credential theft, and data exfiltration from the compromised user's account and accessible systems.
If Mitigated
Limited impact to isolated systems with restricted user privileges and no sensitive data access.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening a malicious file). No authentication bypass needed as it targets the file parsing functionality.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Update to Animate 23.0.9 or 24.0.6
Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/animate/apsb24-96.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Adobe Animate. 2. Go to Help > Check for Updates. 3. Follow prompts to install updates. 4. Restart Animate after installation completes.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict file opening
allConfigure application control policies to block opening of untrusted .fla or .xfl files with Adobe Animate.
Run with reduced privileges
windowsConfigure Adobe Animate to run with standard user privileges instead of administrative rights.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement application whitelisting to block execution of malicious payloads.
- Use network segmentation to isolate Animate workstations from critical systems.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Adobe Animate version via Help > About Adobe Animate. If version is 23.0.8 or earlier, or 24.0.5 or earlier, the system is vulnerable.Check Version:
On Windows: Check registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Animate\XX.0\Version (where XX is 23 or 24). On macOS: Check /Applications/Adobe Animate XX/Adobe Animate XX.app/Contents/Info.plistVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 23.0.9 or higher for version 23, or 24.0.6 or higher for version 24.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual process creation from Adobe Animate (animate.exe on Windows)
- Suspicious file opens of .fla or .xfl files from untrusted sources
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections to unknown IPs following Animate file opens
- DNS requests for suspicious domains after Animate execution
SIEM Query:
process_name="animate.exe" AND (parent_process="explorer.exe" OR command_line CONTAINS ".fla" OR command_line CONTAINS ".xfl")