CVE-2025-27183: Adobe After Effects RCE Vulnerability

CVE-2025-27183 Overview

CVE-2025-27183 is an out-of-bounds write vulnerability [CWE-787] affecting Adobe After Effects versions 25.1, 24.6.4, and earlier. Successful exploitation allows arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. The flaw requires local file processing and victim interaction, meaning a user must open a malicious project or media file crafted by an attacker. Adobe published the corresponding advisory under bulletin APSB25-23. The vulnerability impacts After Effects installations on both Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS platforms.

Critical Impact
Attackers can execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the logged-in user by delivering a malicious After Effects file, enabling endpoint compromise, credential theft, or lateral movement.

Affected Products

Adobe After Effects 25.1 and earlier
Adobe After Effects 24.6.4 and earlier
Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS hosts running affected versions

Discovery Timeline

2025-04-08 - CVE-2025-27183 published to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-27183

Vulnerability Analysis

The issue is an out-of-bounds write [CWE-787] in Adobe After Effects file parsing logic. When After Effects processes a crafted input file, the application writes data past the bounds of an allocated buffer. This corrupts adjacent memory structures and can be steered to overwrite control data such as function pointers or virtual table references.

Because After Effects runs with the privileges of the interactive user, successful exploitation grants the attacker the same access level. On creative and post-production workstations, that often includes access to project assets, source media, signing keys, and network shares.

The attack vector is local and requires user interaction. An attacker delivers a malicious After Effects project, plug-in resource, or supported media container through phishing, file sharing platforms, or supply chain channels. Opening the file triggers the vulnerable parser and the memory corruption primitive.

Root Cause

The root cause is insufficient bounds checking during file parsing. The vulnerable code path accepts attacker-controlled length or offset fields without validating them against destination buffer sizes. Adobe has not published low-level technical details. Refer to the Adobe After Effects Security Advisory APSB25-23 for vendor confirmation.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires the victim to open a malicious file in Adobe After Effects on a local system. No network exposure or elevated privileges are required prior to exploitation. The CVSS vector indicates that confidentiality, integrity, and availability are each fully impacted on the compromised host.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-27183

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected child processes spawned by AfterFX.exe on Windows or the After Effects binary on macOS, particularly shells, scripting interpreters, or rundll32.exe.
After Effects process crashes followed by suspicious file writes to user profile directories or startup locations.
Inbound delivery of After Effects project files (.aep, .aepx) or supported media files from untrusted external senders.

Detection Strategies

Monitor for anomalous memory access violations and exception events generated by the After Effects process.
Hunt for After Effects spawning network-capable utilities such as curl, powershell.exe, or osascript.
Alert on creation of persistence artifacts (scheduled tasks, LaunchAgents, registry Run keys) within minutes of After Effects opening a file.

Monitoring Recommendations

Collect endpoint process, file, and network telemetry from creative workstations, which are frequently excluded from standard EDR scoping.
Correlate email gateway and file-sharing logs for inbound .aep, .aepx, and large binary media files from external sources.
Track Adobe Creative Cloud update status across the fleet to identify hosts that remain on vulnerable After Effects versions.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-27183

Immediate Actions Required

Update Adobe After Effects to the fixed versions identified in Adobe Security Bulletin APSB25-23 on all Windows and macOS endpoints.
Inventory hosts running After Effects 25.1, 24.6.4, or earlier and prioritize them for patch deployment.
Instruct users to avoid opening After Effects project or media files received from untrusted sources until patches are applied.

Patch Information

Adobe addressed CVE-2025-27183 in the security update referenced by Adobe Security Bulletin APSB25-23. Apply the vendor-supplied updates through the Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or your enterprise software distribution platform.

Workarounds

Restrict execution of Adobe After Effects to users who require it as part of their role, reducing the exposed user population.
Block or quarantine inbound After Effects project files at the email gateway and enforce sandboxed inspection of media files from external senders.
Run After Effects under standard user accounts rather than local administrator accounts to limit the impact of exploitation.

bash

# Identify After Effects installations and versions on macOS endpoints
mdfind "kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier == 'com.adobe.AfterEffects'" \
  | while read app; do
      defaults read "$app/Contents/Info.plist" CFBundleShortVersionString 2>/dev/null \
        | xargs -I{} echo "$app => {}"
    done

# Identify After Effects installations on Windows endpoints (PowerShell)
Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*" |
  Where-Object { $_.DisplayName -like "Adobe After Effects*" } |
  Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion, InstallLocation