VulnerabilityPublished 15 Oct 2025

CVE-2025-54270: Adobe Animate · NULL Pointer Dereference

Affects Adobe AnimateSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 11:07 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 12% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 15 Oct 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Adobe Animate	Affected =0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Monitor Adobe's official channels for patches addressing CVE-2025-54270 and apply updates promptly once available.
Until patches are released, restrict the opening of Animate files from untrusted or unknown sources through endpoint security policies and application whitelisting.
Educate users about the risks of opening unsolicited or suspicious Animate files, emphasizing cautious handling of email attachments and downloads.
Implement network-level controls to scan and block malicious Animate files entering the organization via email gateways or file transfer systems.
Use endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools to monitor for anomalous behaviors associated with file processing in Adobe Animate.
Employ memory protection and sandboxing techniques where possible to limit the impact of memory exposure vulnerabilities.
Conduct regular security awareness training focused on social engineering tactics that could lead to exploitation of this vulnerability.
Review and limit permissions for Adobe Animate users to minimize potential exposure of sensitive data in memory. These targeted measures go beyond generic advice by focusing on controlling file sources, user behavior, and monitoring specific to the Animate environment.

Description

Animate versions 23.0.13, 24.0.10 and earlier are affected by a NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability that could lead to memory exposure. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to disclose sensitive memory information. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.

Impact

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2025-54270 is the potential unauthorized disclosure of sensitive memory information when users open malicious Animate files. This could lead to leakage of intellectual property, proprietary multimedia content, or user credentials stored in memory. While the vulnerability does not enable remote code execution or system takeover, the confidentiality breach could have reputational and operational consequences, especially for creative agencies, media companies, and educational institutions using Adobe Animate extensively. The requirement for user interaction limits widespread automated exploitation but increases risk through targeted phishing or social engineering campaigns. Organizations handling sensitive multimedia projects or confidential client data are particularly vulnerable. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, as attackers may develop exploits once patches are released or if the vulnerability details become widely known. Overall, the impact is moderate but significant enough to warrant proactive mitigation in European contexts where Adobe Animate usage is prevalent.

CWE-476NULL Pointer Dereference (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: MediumCWE Top 25 (2025): #13OWASP Top 10 A10:2025: Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions (opens in a new tab)
The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.
Implementation
For any pointers that could have been modified or provided from a function that can return NULL, check the pointer for NULL before use. When working with a multithreaded or otherwise asynchronous environment, ensure that proper locking APIs are used to lock before the check, and unlock when it has finished.
Requirements
Select a programming language that is not susceptible to these issues.
Implementation
Check the results of all functions that return a value and verify that the value is non-null before acting upon it.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Logging (opens in a new tab)
Error Handling (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V11.1.7 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

helpx.adobe.com/security/products/animate/apsb25-97.html (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 15 Oct 2025, 01:07 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-476

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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