CVE-2025-54239: 
Adobe After Effects vulnerability analysis and mitigation

CVE-2025-54239 is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Adobe After Effects that can lead to memory exposure and disclosure of sensitive information. It affects After Effects versions 25.3, 24.6.7 and earlier (specifically versions 25.0–25.3 and all versions prior to 24.6.8). Exploitation requires user interaction — a victim must open a specially crafted malicious file. The vulnerability was published on September 9, 2025, with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (Medium) (Adobe Advisory).

The vulnerability is classified as CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read), occurring when After Effects processes a maliciously crafted file and reads memory beyond the bounds of an allocated buffer. The attack vector is local, requiring no special privileges, but does require user interaction (opening a malicious file). This type of flaw can expose memory contents that may include sensitive data such as pointers, credentials, or other in-memory artifacts. No public technical write-up or proof-of-concept code has been identified at this time (Adobe Advisory).

Successful exploitation results in a high confidentiality impact — memory contents from the After Effects process may be disclosed to an attacker — while integrity and availability are unaffected. The vulnerability is locally scoped and does not enable remote code execution on its own, limiting its blast radius to information disclosure on the victim's system. However, leaked memory data could potentially be leveraged in chained attacks to bypass ASLR or other memory protections (Adobe Advisory).

No public proof-of-concept exploit code or in-the-wild exploitation has been reported for CVE-2025-54239. The vulnerability is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. The EPSS score is approximately 0.021%, indicating a very low probability of exploitation in the near term. Nessus detection plugins (IDs 261789 and 261790) are available for identifying vulnerable systems (Adobe Advisory).

Adobe has released patched versions addressing this vulnerability: After Effects 25.4 (for the 25.x branch) and After Effects 24.6.8 (for the 24.x branch). Users should update to these versions or later via the Creative Cloud desktop application. No configuration-based workaround is available; upgrading is the recommended remediation. Users who cannot update immediately should exercise caution when opening After Effects project files from untrusted sources (Adobe Advisory).

The Center for Internet Security (CIS) issued an advisory noting that multiple Adobe September 2025 patch day vulnerabilities, including those in After Effects, could allow for arbitrary code execution or information disclosure (CIS Advisory). Coverage from Heise and BeyondMachines noted the broader Adobe September 2025 patch day, which addressed numerous vulnerabilities across Acrobat and other products. No notable individual researcher commentary or significant social media discussion specific to CVE-2025-54239 has been identified.