CVE-2024-47429: Adobe Substance 3D Painter RCE Vulnerability

CVE-2024-47429 Overview

CVE-2024-47429 is an out-of-bounds write vulnerability [CWE-787] affecting Adobe Substance 3D Painter versions 10.1.0 and earlier. Successful exploitation results in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. The flaw requires user interaction: a victim must open a crafted malicious file in the application. Adobe published the vulnerability in security advisory APSB24-86 on November 12, 2024. The issue carries local attack vector characteristics, meaning attackers rely on social engineering to deliver weaponized project files or assets to targets.

Critical Impact
Attackers can execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the logged-in user by convincing them to open a malicious Substance 3D Painter file.

Affected Products

Adobe Substance 3D Painter 10.1.0
Adobe Substance 3D Painter versions prior to 10.1.0
All supported platforms running the affected versions

Discovery Timeline

2024-11-12 - CVE-2024-47429 published to NVD and Adobe releases advisory APSB24-86
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-47429

Vulnerability Analysis

CVE-2024-47429 is an out-of-bounds write flaw in Adobe Substance 3D Painter, a 3D texturing and material authoring application used across gaming, film, and industrial design workflows. Out-of-bounds write conditions occur when an application writes data past the allocated bounds of a buffer. Attackers who control the written data and target location can corrupt adjacent memory structures, including function pointers, virtual table entries, or heap metadata.

In this case, the corruption path leads to arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. If the victim runs Substance 3D Painter with administrative rights, the attacker inherits those privileges. Adobe has not published detailed root cause analysis, and the specific parsing routine affected is not disclosed in the public advisory.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper validation of length or index values during the parsing of an untrusted file format handled by Substance 3D Painter. Painter processes numerous asset types including project files, textures, meshes, and material definitions. When a malformed structure triggers a write beyond the intended buffer, adjacent heap or stack memory is corrupted. This class of vulnerability is tracked as CWE-787: Out-of-bounds Write.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires a local attack vector combined with user interaction. An attacker crafts a malicious Substance 3D Painter file and delivers it through phishing, compromised asset marketplaces, or shared project repositories. When the target opens the file in a vulnerable version, the parsing routine triggers the out-of-bounds write and executes attacker-controlled code. No authentication or elevated privileges are required on the target system beyond the ability to run Painter. See the Adobe Security Advisory APSB24-86 for vendor guidance.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-47429

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected child processes spawned by Substance 3D Painter.exe, particularly command interpreters, scripting engines, or rundll32.exe
Substance 3D Painter processes performing network connections to non-Adobe infrastructure shortly after opening a project file
New executables or scripts written under user-writable directories immediately following Painter file open events
Crash telemetry citing access violations or heap corruption inside Painter modules

Detection Strategies

Monitor process lineage for Substance 3D Painter and alert on any anomalous child process creation
Inspect email gateways and file-sharing platforms for .spp, .spt, and related Substance asset files originating from untrusted senders
Correlate Painter application crashes with subsequent process creation or persistence events on the same host

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable endpoint telemetry capturing process creation, file writes, and module loads for creative-workstation user populations
Track installed versions of Adobe Substance 3D Painter across the fleet and alert on hosts running 10.1.0 or earlier
Review DNS and proxy logs for outbound connections initiated by Painter processes

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-47429

Immediate Actions Required

Update Adobe Substance 3D Painter to the fixed version identified in Adobe advisory APSB24-86
Instruct users to only open Substance 3D project files and assets received from trusted sources
Restrict local administrator rights on creative workstations to limit the blast radius of successful exploitation

Patch Information

Adobe published the fix in security bulletin APSB24-86. Administrators should upgrade Substance 3D Painter to the version specified in that advisory. Deploy the update through Adobe Creative Cloud desktop or enterprise deployment tooling, and validate the installed build number post-update.

Workarounds

No official workarounds are documented in the Adobe advisory; upgrading is the supported remediation
Where immediate patching is not feasible, block or quarantine Substance 3D Painter project files delivered from external sources at the email and web gateway
Isolate systems that must run vulnerable versions from sensitive networks and data stores until the patch is applied

bash

# Verify installed Substance 3D Painter version on Windows
reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Substance 3D Painter" /s | findstr /I version

# macOS: inspect application bundle metadata
defaults read "/Applications/Adobe Substance 3D Painter/Adobe Substance 3D Painter.app/Contents/Info.plist" CFBundleShortVersionString