Adobe Animate is affected by a critical Use After Free vulnerability that could allow an attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution on a victim system.

This is a Use After Free vulnerability (CWE-416) triggered when the software incorrectly manages memory. Exploitation requires user interaction, specifically the opening of a specially crafted malicious file by the victim.

The potential for arbitrary code execution poses a severe risk to organizational security, as it allows attackers to run unauthorized commands with the privileges of the logged-in user. With a CVSS score of 7.8, this vulnerability is classified as High severity, indicating that successful exploitation could lead to full system compromise, loss of data integrity, or unauthorized access to sensitive local resources.

Immediate Action: Update Adobe Animate to the latest version provided by the vendor in the security advisory at https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/animate/apsb25-97.html.

Proactive Monitoring: Review endpoint security logs for anomalous behavior in the Animate process or unexpected crashes that may indicate exploitation attempts.

Compensating Controls: Ensure that users do not open files from untrusted or unknown sources, and maintain robust endpoint protection software to detect malicious file execution.

Public Exploit Available: Unknown

Given the potential for arbitrary code execution, this vulnerability represents a significant risk to end-user workstations. Organizations should prioritize updating all instances of Adobe Animate to the patched versions immediately to eliminate the underlying memory management flaw.