CVE-2019-8253
📋 TL;DR
This memory corruption vulnerability in Adobe Photoshop CC allows attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected systems. Users running Photoshop CC versions before 20.0.8 or 21.0.x before 21.0.2 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 of the victim's computer, potentially leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or lateral movement within the network.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation or remote code execution when a user opens a malicious Photoshop file, leading to malware installation or data exfiltration.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if proper application whitelisting, file integrity monitoring, and user awareness training prevent execution of malicious files.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening a malicious file). No public exploit code was available at disclosure time, but memory corruption vulnerabilities are often weaponized.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 20.0.8 or 21.0.2
Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/photoshop/apsb19-56.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Adobe Creative Cloud application. 2. Navigate to the 'Apps' tab. 3. Find Photoshop CC and click 'Update'. 4. Install version 20.0.8 or 21.0.2. 5. Restart Photoshop after installation.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict Photoshop file execution
allUse 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 prevent unauthorized Photoshop file execution
- Deploy endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to monitor for suspicious Photoshop process behavior
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Photoshop version: Help > About Photoshop. If version is earlier than 20.0.8 or 21.0.2, the system is vulnerable.Check Version:
On Windows: wmic product where name='Adobe Photoshop CC' get version
On macOS: /Applications/Adobe Photoshop CC [version]/Adobe Photoshop CC [version].app/Contents/Info.plistVerify Fix Applied:
Verify Photoshop version is 20.0.8 or higher for 20.x branch, or 21.0.2 or higher for 21.x branch.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual Photoshop process spawning child processes
- Photoshop crashes with memory access violation errors
- Photoshop loading files from unusual locations
Network Indicators:
- Photoshop process making unexpected outbound connections after file open
SIEM Query:
Process creation where parent process contains 'photoshop' and child process is cmd.exe, powershell.exe, or other suspicious executables