CVE-2020-9727
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 · uneditedA memory corruption vulnerability exists in InDesign 15.1.1 (and earlier versions). Insecure handling of a malicious indd file could be abused to cause an out-of-bounds memory access, potentially resulting in code execution in the context of the current user.
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 confidenceMemory corruption vulnerability in Adobe InDesign versions 15.1.1 and earlier allows out-of-bounds memory access when parsing malicious .indd files, potentially enabling code execution in the context of the current user.
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<= 15.1.1CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Locate Adobe InDesign installationSearch for InDesign application directory. Windows typical paths: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign CC 2020 or similar. macOS typical path: /Applications/Adobe InDesign CC 2020Affected if If InDesign is found on the system
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Identify installed InDesign versionWindows: Right-click InDesign.exe, select Properties, view Product Version in Details tab. macOS: Right-click Adobe InDesign app, select Get Info, read Version fieldAffected if Version number obtained from this step
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Compare version to affected rangeCompare the installed version to 15.1.1. Versions 15.1.1 and all prior versions (15.1.0, 15.0.x, 14.x, etc.) are within the affected rangeAffected if If installed version is 15.1.1 or lower (e.g., 15.1.0, 15.0, 14.2.1)
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Confirm file parsing attack vector existsDetermine whether users have ability to open .indd files from external or untrusted sources. The vulnerability triggers when InDesign parses a malicious .indd fileAffected if If users can open .indd files from untrusted sources
Environment is affected if Adobe InDesign version 15.1.1 or earlier is installed and users may open .indd files from untrusted sources, as the flaw requires parsing a maliciously crafted .indd file
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 dataApply vendor-supplied patches for InDesign; enforce policies preventing users from opening untrusted .indd files from unknown sources.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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-2020-9727 — 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-2020-9727 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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- 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
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