CVE-2025-54208
📋 TL;DR
Adobe InDesign versions 20.4, 19.5.4 and earlier contain an out-of-bounds write vulnerability that could allow 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. Successful exploitation requires user interaction through opening a crafted file.
💻 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 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 with proper application sandboxing and user privilege restrictions, potentially contained to the InDesign process only.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening malicious file). No public exploit code available at time of advisory.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Update to InDesign 20.5 or 19.5.5
Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/indesign/apsb25-79.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Adobe Creative Cloud application. 2. Navigate to 'Apps' section. 3. Find Adobe InDesign. 4. Click 'Update' button. 5. Restart computer after installation completes.
🔧 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 and verify file integrity
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of malicious InDesign files
- Run InDesign with reduced user privileges and enable sandboxing features
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check InDesign version via Help > About InDesign menu. If version is 20.4 or earlier, or 19.5.4 or earlier, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
On Windows: Check Add/Remove Programs. On macOS: Check Applications folder > Right-click InDesign > Get Info.Verify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 20.5 or later, or 19.5.5 or later after applying update.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected InDesign crashes
- Suspicious file opens in InDesign from unusual locations
- Process creation from InDesign with unusual parameters
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:"file_access") AND file_path:("*.indd" OR "*.indl" OR "*.indt")