CVE-2026-48345: Adobe Animate RCE Vulnerability

CVE-2026-48345 Overview

Adobe Animate contains an OS command injection vulnerability [CWE-78] that enables arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. The flaw stems from improper neutralization of special elements passed to operating system commands. Exploitation requires user interaction, specifically the victim opening a malicious file crafted by an attacker. The vulnerability carries a changed scope, meaning successful exploitation can affect resources beyond the vulnerable component. Adobe published the security advisory APSB26-83 addressing this issue across supported versions of Adobe Animate on Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS platforms.

Critical Impact
Successful exploitation grants attackers arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the current user, potentially leading to full workstation compromise when combined with local privilege escalation.

Affected Products

Adobe Animate (see Adobe advisory APSB26-83 for affected versions)
Microsoft Windows installations of Adobe Animate
Apple macOS installations of Adobe Animate

Discovery Timeline

2026-07-14 - CVE-2026-48345 published to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
2026-07-16 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-48345

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in how Adobe Animate parses and processes attacker-controlled content within project files. Special characters intended for the underlying operating system shell are not properly neutralized before being passed to command execution routines. An attacker who convinces a user to open a specially crafted file can inject arbitrary OS commands that execute with the user's privileges.

The changed scope indicator means the impact extends beyond Adobe Animate's own security boundary. Attackers can affect files, processes, and resources outside the application sandbox. The attack vector is local and requires low privileges plus user interaction, which reduces mass exploitation risk but remains highly attractive for targeted campaigns against creative professionals and design studios.

Root Cause

The root cause is classified under CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command. Adobe Animate constructs OS command strings that incorporate untrusted input from project files without sufficient sanitization. Shell metacharacters such as ;, |, &, and backticks can break the intended command structure and append attacker-controlled instructions.

Attack Vector

The attack begins with delivery of a malicious Animate project file through phishing email, watering hole sites, or shared file repositories. When the victim opens the file in a vulnerable Animate installation, embedded payload data is processed by the flawed command construction routine. The injected commands execute in the user's security context on either Windows or macOS.

No verified proof-of-concept code is publicly available for CVE-2026-48345. Refer to the Adobe Security Update Advisory for vendor-provided technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-48345

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected child processes spawned by Animate.exe on Windows or the Adobe Animate process on macOS, particularly shells such as cmd.exe, powershell.exe, /bin/sh, or /bin/bash
Adobe Animate project files (.fla, .xfl) received from untrusted sources or opened outside normal workflow patterns
Outbound network connections initiated shortly after opening an Animate project file
Creation of persistence artifacts such as scheduled tasks, LaunchAgents, or registry Run keys following Animate file access

Detection Strategies

Monitor process creation events where the parent process is Adobe Animate and the child process is a command interpreter or scripting host
Alert on Adobe Animate spawning network utilities like curl, wget, certutil, or bitsadmin
Correlate file open events for .fla and .xfl files with subsequent anomalous process activity

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable command-line logging on Windows endpoints and unified logging on macOS to capture full arguments of child processes
Deploy EDR telemetry that captures parent-child process relationships and file provenance metadata
Review email gateway logs for inbound Adobe Animate project files and quarantine attachments from external senders

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-48345

Immediate Actions Required

Apply the patched version of Adobe Animate as listed in Adobe security bulletin APSB26-83 on all Windows and macOS workstations
Inventory all installations of Adobe Animate across the environment using software asset management tooling
Instruct users to avoid opening Animate project files received from untrusted or unverified sources until patches are deployed

Patch Information

Adobe released fixes for CVE-2026-48345 as part of security bulletin APSB26-83. Consult the Adobe Security Update Advisory for the specific patched build numbers and download instructions for both Windows and macOS versions.

Workarounds

Restrict opening of Adobe Animate project files to those originating from trusted internal sources only
Run Adobe Animate under a standard (non-administrator) user account to limit blast radius of arbitrary code execution
Use application allowlisting to prevent Adobe Animate from launching command interpreters or scripting hosts as child processes

bash

# Windows: block Adobe Animate from spawning common shells via WDAC or AppLocker rule inspiration
# Example PowerShell to audit recent child processes of Animate.exe from Sysmon Event ID 1
Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName='Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational'; Id=1} |
  Where-Object { $_.Message -match 'ParentImage:.*Animate\.exe' } |
  Select-Object TimeCreated, Message