CVE-2025-43591
📋 TL;DR
Adobe InDesign versions 19.5.3 and earlier contain a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability that allows attackers to execute arbitrary code when a user opens a malicious file. This affects all users running vulnerable versions of InDesign Desktop on any operating system.
💻 Affected Systems
- Adobe InDesign Desktop
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise with attacker gaining the same privileges as the logged-in user, potentially leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or lateral movement.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation leading to malware installation, data exfiltration, or persistence mechanisms being established on the compromised system.
If Mitigated
Limited impact due to application sandboxing or restricted user privileges, potentially resulting in application crash rather than code execution.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening malicious file). No public exploit code available at this time.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 19.5.4 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/indesign/apsb25-60.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Adobe Creative Cloud application
2. Navigate to 'Apps' section
3. Find Adobe InDesign and click 'Update'
4. Restart computer after update completes
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict InDesign file handling
allConfigure system to open .indd files with alternative applications or require verification before opening
Application control policies
allImplement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unauthorized code
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict file handling policies to prevent opening untrusted InDesign files
- Run InDesign with restricted user privileges and application sandboxing
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check InDesign version via Help > About InDesign. If version is 19.5.3 or earlier, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
On Windows: wmic product where name="Adobe InDesign" get version
On macOS: /Applications/Adobe\ InDesign\ 2024/Adobe\ InDesign.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe\ InDesign --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 19.5.4 or later in Help > About InDesign menu.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected InDesign crashes
- Process creation from InDesign with unusual command lines
- File access to suspicious .indd files
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)