CVE-2020-9729
📋 TL;DR
This memory corruption vulnerability in Adobe InDesign allows attackers to execute arbitrary code by tricking users into opening malicious .indd files. It affects all users running vulnerable versions of InDesign, potentially leading to complete system compromise.
💻 Affected Systems
- Adobe InDesign
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Full system compromise with attacker gaining the same privileges as the logged-in user, enabling data theft, ransomware deployment, or persistent backdoor installation.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation leading to data exfiltration, credential harvesting, or lateral movement within the network.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper application sandboxing and user privilege restrictions, potentially only causing application crashes.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction to open malicious file, but memory corruption vulnerabilities can be reliably exploited by skilled attackers.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 15.1.2 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/indesign/apsb20-52.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Adobe Creative Cloud application 2. Navigate to 'Apps' tab 3. Find InDesign and click 'Update' 4. Restart computer after installation completes
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable .indd file association
allPrevent InDesign from automatically opening .indd files by changing file associations
Windows: Control Panel > Default Programs > Associate a file type or protocol with a program
macOS: Right-click .indd file > Get Info > Open With > Change
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict user privileges to standard user accounts (not administrator)
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unauthorized code
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check InDesign version via Help > About InDesign. If version is 15.1.1 or earlier, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
Windows: wmic product where name='Adobe InDesign' get version
macOS: /Applications/Adobe\ InDesign\ CC\ 2019/Adobe\ InDesign\ CC\ 2019.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe\ InDesign\ CC\ 2019 -vVerify Fix Applied:
Verify InDesign version is 15.1.2 or later via Help > About InDesign.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Application crashes of InDesign.exe (Windows) or Adobe InDesign (macOS)
- Unexpected child processes spawned from InDesign
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections from InDesign process to unknown IPs
- DNS queries for suspicious domains from InDesign process
SIEM Query:
process_name:indesign.exe AND (event_id:1000 OR parent_process:explorer.exe AND child_process:cmd.exe)