CVE-2022-34247
📋 TL;DR
Adobe InDesign versions 17.2.1 and earlier (and 16.4.1 and earlier) contain an out-of-bounds write vulnerability that could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the current user. Exploitation requires the victim to open a specially crafted malicious file. This affects all users running vulnerable versions of Adobe InDesign.
💻 Affected Systems
- Adobe InDesign
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise through arbitrary code execution, potentially leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or persistent backdoor installation.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation leading to user account compromise, file system access, and potential lateral movement within the network.
If Mitigated
Limited impact due to user account restrictions, with potential file corruption or application crash but no code execution.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening malicious file) and successful exploitation depends on memory layout and mitigations.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 17.3 and 16.4.2
Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/indesign/apsb22-30.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Adobe InDesign. 2. Go to Help > Updates. 3. Install available updates. 4. Alternatively, download and install the latest version from Adobe's website. 5. Restart the application.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict file opening
allConfigure application control policies to prevent opening untrusted InDesign files.
User education
allTrain users to only open InDesign files from trusted sources.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement application whitelisting to block execution of vulnerable InDesign versions
- Use endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools to monitor for suspicious file opening behavior
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check InDesign version via Help > About InDesign. If version is 17.2.1 or earlier, or 16.4.1 or earlier, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
On Windows: Check registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\InDesign\[Version]\Installer. On macOS: Check /Applications/Adobe InDesign [Version]/Verify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 17.3 or later, or 16.4.2 or later after applying updates.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Application crashes with memory access violations
- Unexpected child processes spawned from InDesign
Network Indicators:
- Unusual outbound connections from InDesign process
SIEM Query:
Process creation where parent process contains 'indesign' AND (command line contains suspicious patterns OR destination IP is anomalous)