CVE-2025-21157
📋 TL;DR
Adobe InDesign has an out-of-bounds write vulnerability that allows arbitrary code execution when a user opens a malicious file. This affects users of InDesign Desktop versions ID20.0, ID19.5.1 and earlier. Attackers can gain the same privileges as the current user through crafted documents.
💻 Affected Systems
- Adobe InDesign Desktop
📦 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 persistent backdoor installation.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation leading to data exfiltration, credential harvesting, or installation of additional malware on the affected system.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper application sandboxing and user privilege restrictions, potentially containing the exploit to the application context.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening malicious file). No public exploit code available at time of analysis.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: ID20.1 and ID19.5.2
Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/indesign/apsb25-01.html
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Open Adobe Creative Cloud application. 2. Navigate to 'Apps' tab. 3. Find InDesign and click 'Update'. 4. Alternatively, download from Adobe website and install over existing version.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict InDesign file handling
allConfigure system to open .indd files with alternative applications or require verification before opening.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized InDesign execution
- Restrict user privileges to standard user accounts (not administrator)
🔍 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 registry HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\InDesign\[Version]\ProductVersion. On macOS: Check /Applications/Adobe InDesign [Version]/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleShortVersionStringVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is ID20.1 or ID19.5.2 or later in 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)