CVE-2019-7970
📋 TL;DR
This CVE describes a type confusion vulnerability in Adobe Photoshop CC that could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected systems. Users running Photoshop CC versions 19.1.8 and earlier or 20.0.5 and earlier are vulnerable. Successful exploitation requires the attacker to trick a user into opening a malicious file.
💻 Affected Systems
- Adobe Photoshop CC
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise with attacker gaining full control over the victim's computer, potentially leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or persistent backdoor installation.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation leading to malware installation, data exfiltration, or system disruption when users open malicious Photoshop files.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper security controls like application whitelisting, least privilege, and network segmentation preventing lateral movement.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction to open malicious file. No public exploit code available at time of advisory.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Photoshop CC 19.1.9 and 20.0.6
Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/photoshop/apsb19-44.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Adobe Creative Cloud application. 2. Navigate to Apps tab. 3. Find Photoshop CC and click Update. 4. Wait for download and installation. 5. Restart Photoshop when prompted.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict Photoshop file execution
allConfigure application control policies to restrict execution of Photoshop files from untrusted sources.
User awareness training
allTrain users to only open Photoshop files from trusted sources and verify file integrity.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement application whitelisting to restrict Photoshop execution to trusted locations only.
- Use network segmentation to isolate Photoshop workstations from critical systems.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Photoshop version via Help > About Photoshop in the application menu.Check Version:
On Windows: Check registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Photoshop\[version]\PluginVersion. On macOS: Check /Applications/Adobe Photoshop CC [year]/Adobe Photoshop CC [year].app/Contents/Info.plistVerify Fix Applied:
Verify Photoshop version is 19.1.9 or higher for 19.x branch, or 20.0.6 or higher for 20.x branch.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected Photoshop crashes
- Unusual file access patterns from Photoshop process
- Suspicious child processes spawned from Photoshop
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections from Photoshop to unusual destinations
- DNS requests for known malicious domains from Photoshop process
SIEM Query:
process_name:"photoshop.exe" AND (event_type:process_creation OR event_type:file_access) AND suspicious_patterns