CVE-2025-61816
📋 TL;DR
A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in Adobe InCopy allows arbitrary code execution when a user opens a malicious file. This affects users of InCopy versions 20.5, 19.5.5 and earlier. Successful exploitation requires user interaction through opening a specially crafted file.
💻 Affected Systems
- Adobe InCopy
📦 What is this software?
Incopy by Adobe
Incopy by Adobe
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise with attacker gaining full control of the victim's computer in the context of the logged-in user.
Likely Case
Malicious actors sending phishing emails with malicious InCopy files to execute malware or ransomware on targeted systems.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper user training and security controls preventing malicious file execution.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening malicious file). No public exploit code available at time of analysis.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Update to InCopy version 20.6 or later, or 19.5.6 or later for older versions
Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/incopy/apsb25-107.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Adobe Creative Cloud application
2. Navigate to 'Apps' section
3. Find Adobe InCopy and click 'Update'
4. Follow on-screen instructions to complete update
5. Restart computer after update completes
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable InCopy file associations
allPrevent InCopy from automatically opening .incx files by changing file associations
Windows: Control Panel > Default Programs > Associate a file type or protocol with a program
macOS: Right-click .incx file > Get Info > Open With > Change to different application
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement application whitelisting to block execution of InCopy
- Deploy email filtering to block .incx attachments and educate users about suspicious files
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check InCopy version via Help > About InCopy menuCheck Version:
InCopy: Help > About InCopyVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 20.6 or higher, or 19.5.6 or higher for older versions📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected InCopy crashes
- Process creation from InCopy with suspicious command lines
- File access to unusual .incx files
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections from InCopy process to suspicious IPs
- DNS requests for known malicious domains from InCopy
SIEM Query:
Process Creation where Image contains 'incopy.exe' and CommandLine contains unusual parameters