CVE-2021-44189 Adobe After Effects JPEG2000 Parsing Use-After-Free Information Disclosure Vulnerability

Low 3.3 Published 7 Sep 2023 Updated 27 Feb 2025

An attacker can disclose sensitive memory and bypass ASLR by tricking a user into opening a malicious file in Adobe After Effects.

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: None listed

What is CVE-2021-44189?

CVE-2021-44189 is a low-severity use after free vulnerability in Adobe After Effects, published on 7 Sep 2023. 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 After Effects versions 22.0 (and earlier) and 18.4.2 (and earlier) are affected by an Use-After-Free vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to bypass mitigations such as ASLR. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.

Weakness: CWE-416

Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-44189?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Adobe After Effects.

How do I fix CVE-2021-44189?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-44189 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.

Is CVE-2021-44189 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-44189 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Adobe After Effects vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as GHSA-mfpv-g28w-jf68.