CVE-2025-27200: Adobe Animate RCE Vulnerability

CVE-2025-27200 Overview

CVE-2025-27200 is a Use After Free vulnerability [CWE-416] affecting Adobe Animate versions 24.0.7, 23.0.10, and earlier. Successful exploitation enables arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. The flaw requires user interaction, as a victim must open a malicious file crafted by an attacker. Adobe published security bulletin APSB25-31 addressing this issue.

Critical Impact
Arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user when a victim opens a malicious Animate file on Windows or macOS.

Affected Products

Adobe Animate 24.0.7 and earlier
Adobe Animate 23.0.10 and earlier
Apple macOS and Microsoft Windows installations of Adobe Animate

Discovery Timeline

2025-04-08 - CVE-2025-27200 published to the National Vulnerability Database
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-27200

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is a Use After Free condition [CWE-416] in Adobe Animate. The product manipulates a memory region after the underlying allocation has been freed. Attackers who control the contents of the reclaimed memory can hijack control flow and execute arbitrary code in the security context of the user running Animate.

Exploitation requires local file processing and user interaction. The attacker delivers a malicious project or asset file, and the victim opens it inside Animate. No elevated privileges are required from the attacker prior to delivery, but the resulting code execution inherits the privileges of the current user account.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper object lifetime management during file parsing. Adobe Animate retains a reference to a memory object after it has been deallocated. When the dangling pointer is later dereferenced, the freed region can be reoccupied by attacker-controlled data structures, leading to controlled memory corruption.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is local. An attacker crafts a malicious Animate file and delivers it through phishing, file-sharing services, or watering-hole distribution. When the user opens the file in Animate on Windows or macOS, the parsing code triggers the use-after-free condition and the embedded payload runs with user privileges.

No verified public proof-of-concept code is available for this issue. Refer to the Adobe Security Advisory APSB25-31 for vendor-provided technical context.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-27200

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected child processes spawned by Animate.exe on Windows or the Animate process on macOS, particularly shells, scripting hosts, or LOLBins.
Animate process crashes or abnormal terminations correlated with the opening of .fla, .xfl, or other Animate-handled file formats from untrusted sources.
Outbound network connections initiated by the Animate process to unknown hosts shortly after a file is opened.

Detection Strategies

Monitor process lineage for Animate spawning interpreters such as cmd.exe, powershell.exe, wscript.exe, bash, or osascript.
Alert on writes to user-writable autorun locations (Startup folders, HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run, macOS LaunchAgents) following an Animate file open event.
Hunt for Animate files arriving via email gateways or downloaded from non-corporate domains and opened on engineering or creative workstations.

Monitoring Recommendations

Inventory endpoints running Adobe Animate and track installed versions against the patched baseline.
Centralize endpoint telemetry covering process creation, image loads, and file access to enable retrospective hunts for malicious file opens.
Track Animate version telemetry to confirm patch deployment across managed creative endpoints.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-27200

Immediate Actions Required

Update Adobe Animate to the fixed releases listed in Adobe Security Advisory APSB25-31 on all Windows and macOS endpoints.
Restrict opening Animate project files received from external or untrusted sources until patches are applied.
Verify that endpoint protection is active on hosts running Animate and that policies block execution of unsigned child processes from creative applications.

Patch Information

Adobe addressed CVE-2025-27200 in the updates published with security bulletin APSB25-31. Administrators should deploy the vendor-supplied updates to Adobe Animate 24.0.7, 23.0.10, and earlier installations. Apply the update through Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop or enterprise deployment tooling.

Workarounds

Block delivery of Animate project files (.fla, .xfl, archived variants) at email and web gateways for users who do not require them.
Enforce least-privilege user accounts on workstations running Animate so that exploitation cannot easily escalate to administrative actions.
Train creative and engineering staff to avoid opening Animate files from unknown senders until patching is confirmed.

bash

# Verify installed Adobe Animate version on Windows via PowerShell
Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*" |
  Where-Object { $_.DisplayName -like "*Adobe Animate*" } |
  Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion, InstallDate