CVE-2024-52986
📋 TL;DR
Adobe Animate versions 23.0.8, 24.0.5 and earlier contain an integer underflow vulnerability that could allow arbitrary code execution when a user opens a malicious file. This affects users of Adobe Animate on any operating system where these vulnerable versions are installed. Successful exploitation requires user interaction through opening a specially crafted file.
💻 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 the same privileges as the current user, potentially leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or persistent backdoor installation.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation or malware execution within the user's context, potentially compromising sensitive project files and credentials stored by the user.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper application sandboxing and user privilege restrictions, potentially only affecting the Animate application itself.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening malicious file). No public exploit code identified at time of analysis.
🛠️ 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 available updates. 4. Restart Animate after installation completes.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable automatic file opening
allConfigure system to not automatically open downloaded files and require explicit user action
Restrict file execution
allUse application control policies to restrict execution of untrusted Animate files
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict file handling policies: only open Animate files from trusted sources
- Run Animate with reduced user privileges or in sandboxed environments
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Animate version via Help > About Animate. If version is 23.0.8 or earlier, or 24.0.5 or earlier, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
Not applicable - check via Animate GUI Help > About AnimateVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, verify version is 23.0.9 or higher, or 24.0.6 or higher via Help > About Animate.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected Animate crashes
- Animate opening unusual file types
- Process creation from Animate with suspicious parameters
Network Indicators:
- Animate making unexpected network connections after file open
SIEM Query:
Process:Animate.exe AND (EventID:1 OR EventID:4688) AND CommandLine CONTAINS .fla OR .xfl