CVE-2025-54241
📋 TL;DR
Adobe After Effects versions 25.3, 24.6.7 and earlier contain an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could expose memory contents, potentially leaking sensitive information. Attackers can exploit this by tricking users into opening malicious project files. This affects After Effects users who open untrusted files.
💻 Affected Systems
- Adobe After Effects
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Memory disclosure could expose sensitive data like passwords, encryption keys, or proprietary content from the application's memory space.
Likely Case
Information disclosure of non-critical memory contents, potentially revealing system information or application data.
If Mitigated
Minimal impact with proper file handling policies and user awareness training in place.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires user interaction (opening malicious file) and knowledge of memory layout for reliable exploitation.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Update to After Effects 25.4 or later, or 24.6.8 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/after_effects/apsb25-86.html
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Open Adobe Creative Cloud application. 2. Navigate to 'Apps' tab. 3. Find After Effects and click 'Update'. 4. Apply the update and restart After Effects if prompted.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict file opening
allOnly open After Effects project files from trusted sources
Use application sandboxing
allRun After Effects in a sandboxed environment to limit memory access
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict file handling policies - only open files from verified sources
- Use endpoint detection to monitor for suspicious file opening behavior
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check After Effects version via Help > About After Effects. If version is 25.3, 24.6.7 or earlier, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
On Windows: wmic product where name="Adobe After Effects" get version
On macOS: /Applications/Adobe\ After\ Effects\ */Adobe\ After\ Effects.app/Contents/Info.plist | grep -A1 CFBundleShortVersionStringVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 25.4 or later, or 24.6.8 or later after updating.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Application crashes with memory access violations
- Unusual file opening events from untrusted sources
Network Indicators:
- Downloads of After Effects project files from suspicious sources
SIEM Query:
source="*after_effects*" AND (event_type="crash" OR file_operation="open") AND file_extension="aep"