CVE-2021-36056

Application crash via undisclosed use-after-free

Published Sep 1, 2021 · Updated Nov 3, 2025

Use-after-free in Adobe XMP Toolkit SDK 2020.1 and earlier allows attackers to crash an integrating application via a crafted file. Adobe identifies the memory-lifetime error but has not published the affected function or the operation that leaves an object reachable after release. Exploitation requires a user to open the crafted file, and the vendor-assigned impact is limited to an application crash.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability4.38%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Use-after-free in Adobe XMP Toolkit SDK 2020.1 and earlier allows attackers to crash an integrating application via a crafted file. Adobe identifies the memory-lifetime error but has not published the affected function or the operation that leaves an object reachable after release. Exploitation requires a user to open the crafted file, and the vendor-assigned impact is limited to an application crash.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-36056
Published
Sep 1, 2021
Updated
Nov 3, 2025
Vendor
Adobe
Product
XMP Toolkit SDK
Classifications
CWE-416, CWE-122, T1203
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 1, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Nov 3, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=2020.1
  2. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=None

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Adobe · XMP Toolkit SDKversion=unspecified <=2020.1; version=unspecified <=None

Published CVSS scores

7.3NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
9.3NIST NVDAV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
5.5Adobe Systems IncorporatedCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-416Use After Free
CWE-122Heap-based Buffer Overflow
T1203Exploitation for Client Execution

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo