CVE-2025-30320
📋 TL;DR
Adobe InDesign versions ID19.5.2, ID20.2 and earlier contain a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability that allows attackers to cause denial-of-service by crashing the application. Exploitation requires a user to open a malicious file. This affects users of vulnerable InDesign versions who process untrusted documents.
💻 Affected Systems
- Adobe InDesign
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete application crash leading to data loss in unsaved work and disruption of publishing workflows.
Likely Case
Temporary denial-of-service where the application crashes when opening a malicious file, requiring restart and potentially losing unsaved work.
If Mitigated
No impact if users only open trusted files from verified sources.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening malicious file). No authentication bypass needed as user already has file access.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: ID19.5.3 and ID20.3
Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/indesign/apsb25-37.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Adobe Creative Cloud application. 2. Navigate to 'Apps' tab. 3. Find Adobe InDesign. 4. Click 'Update' button. 5. Wait for download and installation. 6. Restart computer if prompted.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict file sources
allOnly open InDesign files from trusted sources and verified senders.
Sandbox execution
allRun InDesign in isolated environment or virtual machine when processing untrusted files.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict file validation policies - only accept InDesign files from trusted sources
- Use application whitelisting to prevent execution of malicious files
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check InDesign version via Help > About InDesign. If version is ID19.5.2 or earlier, or ID20.2 or earlier, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
On Windows: Check via Creative Cloud app or Help > About InDesign. On macOS: Check via Creative Cloud app or InDesign > About InDesign.Verify Fix Applied:
Verify version is ID19.5.3 or later, or ID20.3 or later via Help > About InDesign.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Application crash logs with NULL pointer dereference errors
- Unexpected InDesign termination events
Network Indicators:
- No network indicators - exploitation is file-based
SIEM Query:
EventID=1000 OR EventID=1001 AND ProcessName="indesign.exe" AND ExceptionCode=0xc0000005