CVE-2025-54224
📋 TL;DR
Adobe InDesign versions 20.4, 19.5.4 and earlier contain a use-after-free vulnerability that could allow arbitrary code execution when a user opens a malicious file. This affects all users running vulnerable versions of InDesign on their desktop systems.
💻 Affected Systems
- Adobe InDesign
📦 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 full compromise.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening malicious file). No public exploit code available at this time.
🛠️ 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' tab. 3. Find Adobe InDesign. 4. Click 'Update' button. 5. Restart computer after installation completes.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict InDesign file handling
allConfigure system to open .indd files with alternative applications or require verification before opening
Application sandboxing
allRun InDesign in restricted mode or sandboxed environment
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unauthorized code
- Restrict user privileges to standard user accounts (not administrator)
🔍 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: wmic product where name="Adobe InDesign" get version
On macOS: /Applications/Adobe\ InDesign\ */Adobe\ InDesign.app/Contents/Info.plist | grep -A1 CFBundleShortVersionStringVerify 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 with memory access violations
- Suspicious file opens from untrusted sources
- Unusual child processes spawned from InDesign
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections from InDesign process to unknown IPs
- DNS requests for suspicious domains following file open
SIEM Query:
process_name:"InDesign.exe" AND (event_id:1000 OR event_id:1001) AND exception_code:0xc0000005