CVE-2025-21123
📋 TL;DR
Adobe InDesign has a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability that allows arbitrary code execution when a user opens a malicious file. This affects users running vulnerable versions of InDesign on any operating system. Attackers can gain the same privileges as the current user.
💻 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 current user, potentially leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or lateral movement.
Likely Case
Malicious document leads to code execution, allowing attackers to steal sensitive files, install malware, or establish persistence on the system.
If Mitigated
With proper controls, impact is limited to the user's privileges and sandboxed environment, but still represents significant risk.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening malicious file). No public exploit code known at this time.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Update to ID20.1 or later, or ID19.5.2 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/indesign/apsb25-01.html
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Open Adobe InDesign. 2. Go to Help > Updates. 3. Follow prompts to install latest version. 4. Alternatively, download from Adobe Creative Cloud desktop app.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict InDesign file execution
allBlock execution of InDesign files from untrusted sources using application control policies
User awareness training
allTrain users to only open InDesign files from trusted sources
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement application whitelisting to block InDesign execution entirely
- Use endpoint protection with behavioral analysis to detect malicious file execution patterns
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check InDesign version via Help > About InDesign. If version is ID20.0, ID19.5.1 or earlier, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
On Windows: Check Add/Remove Programs for Adobe InDesign version. On macOS: Check Applications folder > Adobe InDesign > Get Info.Verify Fix Applied:
Verify version is ID20.1 or later, or ID19.5.2 or later via Help > About InDesign.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected InDesign crashes
- Suspicious child processes spawned from InDesign
- Unusual file access patterns from InDesign process
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections from InDesign process to unknown IPs
- DNS requests for suspicious domains from InDesign
SIEM Query:
process_name:"InDesign.exe" AND (event_type:"process_creation" OR event_type:"crash")