CVE-2021-40776

Privilege escalation via insecure installer temporary file

Published Jun 15, 2022 · Updated Apr 23, 2025

Privilege escalation in Adobe Lightroom Classic 10.3 and earlier allows physically proximate attackers to gain elevated privileges. The offline installer creates a temporary file in a directory with incorrect permissions, leaving the installation-time file insufficiently protected. Exploitation requires high existing privileges, physical access, and user interaction before installation; no network-reachable path is reported.

CVSS severity6.1
Medium
EPSS probability0.52%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in Adobe Lightroom Classic 10.3 and earlier allows physically proximate attackers to gain elevated privileges. The offline installer creates a temporary file in a directory with incorrect permissions, leaving the installation-time file insufficiently protected. Exploitation requires high existing privileges, physical access, and user interaction before installation; no network-reachable path is reported.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-40776
Published
Jun 15, 2022
Updated
Apr 23, 2025
Vendor
Adobe
Product
Lightroom Classic
Classifications
CWE-379, T1548
Attack vector
physical
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 15, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Apr 23, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=10.3
  2. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=None

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorphysical
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Adobe · Lightroom Classicversion=unspecified <=10.3; version=unspecified <=None

Published CVSS scores

6.6NIST NVDAV:L/AC:M/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C
6.1AdobeCVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/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)
Vectorphysical
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-379Creation of Temporary File in Directory with Insecure Permissions
T1548Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism

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

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Your stack

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