CVE-2025-49562 is a Use After Free (UAF) vulnerability identified in Adobe Animate versions 23.0.12, 24.0.9, and earlier. Use After Free vulnerabilities occur when a program continues to use memory after it has been freed, potentially leading to undefined behavior such as memory corruption or disclosure of sensitive information. In this specific case, the vulnerability could allow an attacker to cause disclosure of sensitive memory contents. The exploitation requires user interaction, specifically that the victim opens a malicious Animate file crafted to trigger the UAF condition. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 5.5 (medium severity), reflecting that the attack vector is local (AV:L), with low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), but user interaction is necessary (UI:R). The impact is high on confidentiality (C:H) but does not affect integrity or availability (I:N, A:N). No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches or updates are linked yet, indicating this is a recently disclosed vulnerability. The vulnerability resides in Adobe Animate, a multimedia authoring and computer animation program widely used for creating vector graphics and animations for web and other platforms. The vulnerability could be leveraged by attackers to extract sensitive data from memory, potentially including user credentials, session tokens, or other confidential information stored in the application’s memory space. Given the requirement for user interaction and opening a malicious file, the attack surface is somewhat limited to targeted phishing or social engineering campaigns. However, the risk remains significant for organizations relying on Adobe Animate for content creation, especially those handling sensitive or proprietary multimedia projects.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-49562 could be substantial in sectors where Adobe Animate is used extensively, such as media, advertising, education, and digital content creation. Disclosure of sensitive memory could lead to leakage of confidential project data, intellectual property, or user credentials, potentially enabling further attacks or corporate espionage. Since the vulnerability requires a user to open a malicious file, organizations with less stringent email and file handling policies or insufficient user awareness training are at higher risk. The medium severity score reflects that while the vulnerability does not allow remote code execution or system compromise directly, the confidentiality breach could have cascading effects, including reputational damage and regulatory compliance issues under GDPR if personal data is exposed. Additionally, the lack of available patches increases the window of exposure, necessitating immediate mitigation efforts. The threat is more pronounced in environments where Adobe Animate files are frequently exchanged or downloaded from external sources, increasing the likelihood of encountering malicious files.

1. Implement strict email and file filtering policies to block or quarantine suspicious Animate files (.fla, .xfl, or exported files) from untrusted sources. 2. Educate users on the risks of opening files from unknown or untrusted senders, emphasizing the specific threat of malicious Animate files. 3. Employ endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions capable of monitoring abnormal memory usage or application crashes related to Adobe Animate. 4. Restrict Adobe Animate usage to trusted internal networks and limit file sharing to verified collaborators. 5. Monitor Adobe’s security advisories closely for patches or updates addressing this vulnerability and apply them promptly once available. 6. Consider sandboxing or running Adobe Animate in isolated environments to contain potential exploitation attempts. 7. Use application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized or modified versions of Animate from executing. 8. Conduct regular security awareness training focused on social engineering and phishing tactics that might deliver malicious files.