# CVE-2021-43019: Adobe Creative Cloud Incorrect Permission Assignment Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

> An attacker with low-privileged code execution can escalate privileges to SYSTEM by exploiting incorrect permissions in the Adobe Creative Cloud installer.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 23 Nov 2021
- **Updated:** 23 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-wxwj-m72v-qhcr

## What is CVE-2021-43019?

CVE-2021-43019 is a high-severity vulnerability in Adobe Creative Cloud (desktop component), published on 23 Nov 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Adobe Creative Cloud version 5.5 (and earlier) are affected by a privilege escalation vulnerability in the resources leveraged by the Setup.exe service. An unauthenticated attacker could leverage this vulnerability to remove files and escalate privileges under the context of SYSTEM . An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability on the product installer. User interaction is required before product installation to abuse this vulnerability.

Weakness: CWE-732 (Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-43019?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop Application.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-43019?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-43019 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-43019 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-43019 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Adobe Creative Cloud (desktop component)

- [CVE-2020-9671](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-9671/): Privilege escalation in Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop Application (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-9682](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-9682/): Path traversal in Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop Application (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-9670](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-9670/): Path traversal in Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop Application (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-48272](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-48272/): Creative Cloud Desktop | Uncontrolled Search Path Element (CWE-427) (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2026-48344](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-48344/): GoCart | Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition (CWE-367) (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-43019 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-43019 is a high-severity vulnerability in Adobe Creative Cloud (desktop component), published on 23 Nov 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-43019 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Adobe Creative Cloud (desktop component). No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-43019/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-43019/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-43019
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-43019
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-43019

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-43019/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.