Adobe After Effects: Out-of-bounds write enables arbitrary code execution
Summary
CVE-2026-113538 is an out-of-bounds write in Adobe After Effects on Windows and macOS. An attacker can execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the current user. Exploitation requires that a victim opens a malicious file, so phishing or shared project and media files are the likely delivery route.
Affected
- Adobe After Effects 26.5 and earlier (Windows, macOS)
- Adobe After Effects 25.6.6 and earlier (Windows, macOS)
Fixed in
- Adobe After Effects 26.5.3 (26.x line)
- Adobe After Effects 27.0 (25.6.x line)
- Fixed versions per the CVE record of Adobe as CNA; confirm against security bulletin APSB26-100
Workaround
Unknown. No vendor-documented workaround is known.
Until patched: do not open project or media files from untrusted sources, and run After Effects without local administrator rights.
Exploitation
- Adobe is not aware of any exploits in the wild for the issues in bulletin APSB26-100.
- CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation none, not automatable.
- Not listed in CISA KEV according to third-party trackers; no public exploit code known at the time of research.
Our recommendation
- Inventory all After Effects installations and their versions.
- Update to 26.5.3 or 27.0 (depending on the installed line) via Creative Cloud, or the Adobe Download Center.
- Until patched, treat externally sourced project and media files as untrusted.
- Monitor for new exploitation reports, as the status may change quickly.
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-2026-113538 www.cve.org
- Zero Day Initiative: November 2026 security update review www.zerodayinitiative.com
- Strix CVE-2026-113538 www.strix.ai
- ThreatInt CVE-2026-113538 cve.threatint.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, 02:13.
Original description (NVD)
After Effects is affected by an out-of-bounds write vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.
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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