CVE-2019-7997
📋 TL;DR
This CVE describes an out-of-bounds write 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 victim to open 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 lateral movement within the network.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation or arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user, allowing file system access, credential harvesting, and installation of persistent malware.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper application sandboxing and user privilege restrictions, potentially containing the exploit to the Photoshop process only.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening a malicious file). The vulnerability is in memory handling within Photoshop's file parsing functionality.
🛠️ 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 the 'Apps' section. 3. Find Photoshop CC and click 'Update'. 4. Restart Photoshop after update completes.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict Photoshop file types
windowsBlock opening of untrusted Photoshop files via group policy or application control
Run Photoshop with reduced privileges
allConfigure Photoshop to run with standard user privileges rather than administrative rights
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unauthorized Photoshop files
- Deploy endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to monitor for suspicious Photoshop process behavior
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Photoshop version via Help > About Photoshop in the application menuCheck 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 version is 19.1.9 or higher for version 19.x, or 20.0.6 or higher for version 20.x📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Photoshop crash logs with memory access violations
- Unexpected child processes spawned from Photoshop.exe
Network Indicators:
- Unusual outbound connections from Photoshop process
- DNS requests to suspicious domains after Photoshop execution
SIEM Query:
Process Creation where Image contains 'photoshop.exe' AND ParentImage contains 'cmd.exe' OR 'powershell.exe'