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IndesignApplication · Adobe

CVE-2016-7886

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2016-12-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 11.4.1 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Adobe InDesign version 11.4.1 and earlier, Adobe InDesign Server 11.0.0 and earlier have an exploitable memory corruption vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Memory corruption vulnerability in Adobe InDesign (versions 11.4.1 and earlier) and InDesign Server (versions 11.0.0 and earlier) that allows arbitrary code execution when a specially crafted file is processed.

MitigationUpdate Adobe InDesign and InDesign Server to the latest patched version to remediate this vulnerability.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
IndesignApplication
Affected:<= 11.4.1
Indesign ServerApplication
Affected:<= 11.0.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Adobe InDesign version on Windows
    Open the application, go to Help > About Adobe InDesign, or right-click the InDesign.exe file, select Properties, and view the Version tab. Alternatively, check the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\InDesign\InstallPath\Version for the installed version number.
    Affected if The displayed version is 11.4.1 or earlier (for example, 11.4.1, 11.4.0, 11.3, etc.)
  2. Check Adobe InDesign version on macOS
    Open Adobe InDesign, go to InDesign menu > About InDesign. Alternatively, navigate to /Applications/Adobe InDesign CC 2017/ and right-click the InDesign app, select Get Info, and view the version under General.
    Affected if The displayed version is 11.4.1 or earlier (for example, 11.4.1, 11.4.0, 11.3, etc.)
  3. Check Adobe InDesign Server version on Windows
    Run InDesign Server and check the startup output for version information, or query the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\InDesignServer\InstallPath\Version. The executable version can also be checked via right-click > Properties > Details.
    Affected if The displayed version is 11.0.0 or earlier (for example, 11.0.0, 10.5, 10.0, etc.)
  4. Check Adobe InDesign Server version on macOS
    Run InDesign Server from terminal and check the version output on startup, or right-click the InDesign Server executable in /Applications/Adobe InDesign Server CC 2017/ and select Get Info.
    Affected if The displayed version is 11.0.0 or earlier (for example, 11.0.0, 10.5, 10.0, etc.)

You are affected if Adobe InDesign version is 11.4.1 or earlier, OR Adobe InDesign Server version is 11.0.0 or earlier, and the application processes untrusted XML or other media files.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 11.4.1
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe InDesign and InDesign Server to the latest patched version to remediate this vulnerability.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Adobe InDesign CC 2017 (version 12.0) or later, which contains the security fix for CVE-2016-7886

  1. 1. Identify the currently installed Adobe InDesign or InDesign Server version from the Help > About InDesign menu
  2. 2. Back up all important InDesign files, templates, and scripts before performing any updates
  3. 3. Navigate to the Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or visit helpx.adobe.com to check for available updates
  4. 4. If using a subscription, allow Creative Cloud to update to the latest version which contains security patches
  5. 5. If using a standalone license, download the updated version from Adobe's official website or contact Adobe Support for the security patch
  6. 6. After updating, restart the application and verify functionality with critical workflows
Caveat Minor: Some legacy scripts or plugins may require updates for compatibility with CC 2017; ensure all critical plugins are certified for the new version before production deployment

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Indesign Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-7886 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data