Adobe After Effects: Violation of secure design principles allows code execution
Summary
Adobe After Effects contains a vulnerability caused by a violation of secure design principles (CWE-657). An attacker who gets a victim to open a malicious file can execute arbitrary code with the rights of the current user. The CVSS vector requires local access and no privileges, but user interaction is needed, and the scope is marked as changed.
Affected
- Adobe After Effects 26.5 and earlier (Windows and macOS)
- Adobe After Effects 25.6.6 and earlier (Windows and macOS)
Fixed in
- Adobe After Effects 27.0 (for the 25.6.6 branch and later)
- Adobe After Effects 26.5.3 (for the 26.5 branch)
- Platform-specific build numbers: Unknown.
Workaround
- No vendor workaround known.
- Until the update is installed, do not open project files, templates or plugins from untrusted sources.
Exploitation
- Adobe states it is not aware of any exploits in the wild for the issues in APSB26-100.
- CISA SSVC: Exploitation none, Automatable no, Technical Impact total.
- Public proof of concept: Unknown.
Our recommendation
- Update After Effects to 27.0 or 26.5.3 as described in Adobe bulletin APSB26-100, using the Creative Cloud desktop app or the Download Center.
- Inventory all installations of After Effects, including freelancer and studio workstations, and check their versions.
- Warn users not to open untrusted project files, templates or plugins until the update is installed.
- Prioritise the update together with the other APSB26-100 fixes.
Public exploits
PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit and Exploit-DB list nothing for this CVE.
Research sources
- Adobe Security Bulletin APSB26-100 www.adobe.com
- CVE Record CVE-2026-113526 www.cve.org
- ZDI: The November 2026 Security Update Review www.zerodayinitiative.com
- Strix CVE summary CVE-2026-113526 www.strix.ai
- Adobe After Effects release notes helpx.adobe.com
Researched and written up in English and German by an AI (Claude by Anthropic) based on NVD, CISA, EPSS and the sources listed. The vendor information is authoritative. Researched on 11 Nov 2026, 01:08.
Original description (NVD)
After Effects is affected by a Violation of Secure Design Principles vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to execute arbitrary code. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file. Scope is changed.
Sources
The tracker combines official, freely usable data sources – updated continuously:
- NVD (NIST) – CVEs, rating (CVSS), affected products
- CISA KEV – vulnerabilities confirmed by CISA as actively exploited
- CISA Vulnrichment – CISA assessment (SSVC) in the official CVE record
- FIRST EPSS – probability of exploitation
- Microsoft MSRC – Patch Tuesday: vulnerabilities, severity, updates
- PoC-in-GitHub – public proof-of-concept repositories
- Metasploit (Rapid7) – modules of the Metasploit Framework
- Exploit-DB (OffSec) – archive of public exploits (links only)
- Patch days: official vendor pages (linked per vendor) (Vendor patch days)
This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS data © FIRST.org.
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