CVE-2026-21323: Adobe After Effects · Use After Free
Affects Adobe After EffectsSource CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High.
Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 17% 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:H/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 10 Feb 2026
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.
What to do
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| AdobeAfter Effects | Affected
| Fixed in– |
AI-suggested
- Immediately educate users to avoid opening After Effects project files from untrusted or unknown sources until a patch is available.
- Implement strict email and file scanning policies to detect and block potentially malicious After Effects files.
- Use application whitelisting and sandboxing techniques to limit the impact of any successful exploitation.
- Monitor systems for unusual behavior indicative of exploitation, such as unexpected process launches or network connections originating from After Effects.
- Maintain up-to-date backups of critical project files to enable recovery in case of compromise.
- Follow Adobe’s security advisories closely and apply patches promptly once released.
- Consider deploying endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions capable of detecting use-after-free exploitation techniques.
- Restrict user privileges where possible to minimize the impact of code execution under user context.
Description
After Effects versions 25.6 and earlier are affected by a Use After Free vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.