CVE-2020-24421
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 · uneditedAdobe InDesign version 15.1.2 (and earlier) is affected by a NULL pointer dereference bug that occurs when handling a malformed .indd file. The impact is limited to causing a denial-of-service of the client application. User interaction is required to exploit this issue.
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 confidenceAdobe InDesign versions 15.1.2 and earlier contain a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability when parsing malformed .indd files. An attacker can craft a malicious .indd file that, when opened by a user, causes the application to crash due to the NULL pointer dereference, resulting in denial of service.
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<= 15.1.2CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed Adobe InDesign versionOpen Adobe InDesign and navigate to Help > About Adobe InDesign (or right-click the application icon and select Properties > Details). Note the full version number displayed.Affected if The displayed version is 15.1.2 or any earlier version (e.g., 15.1.1, 15.0, 14.x)
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Compare version against affected rangeCompare your installed version number to the affected range. The CVE specifies versions 15.1.2 and earlier as vulnerable.Affected if Your version number is less than or equal to 15.1.2
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Identify exposure to malicious .indd filesAssess whether your workflow involves opening .indd files from external or untrusted sources, such as email attachments, downloaded files from the internet, or files from unknown designers.Affected if You routinely open .indd files from untrusted or unknown sources without prior validation
You are affected if your installed Adobe InDesign version is 15.1.2 or earlier AND you open .indd files from potentially malicious sources.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor dataUsers should avoid opening .indd files from untrusted or unknown sources. Update Adobe InDesign to the latest version beyond 15.1.2 to obtain the security patch.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-24421 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-24421 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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