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IndesignApplication · Adobe

CVE-2022-28856

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-09-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 17.3 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges

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 versions 16.4.2 (and earlier) and 17.3 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to bypass mitigations such as ASLR. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.

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

Adobe InDesign versions 16.4.2 and earlier and 17.3 and earlier contain an out-of-bounds read vulnerability. When a victim opens a specially crafted malicious file, InDesign reads memory outside allocated buffer bounds, potentially exposing sensitive memory contents and enabling ASLR bypass.

MitigationUpdate Adobe InDesign to the latest patched version as specified in the Adobe security bulletin (APSB22-26). Avoid opening untrusted or unexpected InDesign files from unknown sources.

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:>= 16.0, <= 16.4.2>= 17.0, <= 17.3

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

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

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. Determine installed InDesign version
    Open Adobe InDesign and navigate to Help > About Adobe InDesign (or check the application bundle info on macOS). Alternatively, check the Windows Registry under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Adobe.InDesign.*\shell\Open\command or the installed programs list in Windows Control Panel or macOS Applications folder.
    Affected if The version number displayed falls within 16.0 through 16.4.2, or 17.0 through 17.3 (inclusive).
  2. Confirm InDesign is the affected 16.x branch
    If the version starts with 16 (for example, 16.0.x through 16.4.2), this is the 16.x branch affected by this CVE.
    Affected if Version is 16.0 <= version <= 16.4.2.
  3. Confirm InDesign is the affected 17.x branch
    If the version starts with 17 (for example, 17.0.x through 17.3), this is the 17.x branch affected by this CVE.
    Affected if Version is 17.0 <= version <= 17.3.
  4. Assess exposure to malicious files
    Review whether InDesign is used to open files from untrusted or unknown sources, as the vulnerability is triggered when opening a specially crafted malicious file.
    Affected if Users routinely open InDesign files from untrusted or unknown sources without verification.

A user is affected if their installed Adobe InDesign version is 16.0 through 16.4.2 or 17.0 through 17.3 AND they open the specially crafted malicious file.

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 17.3
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe InDesign to the latest patched version as specified in the Adobe security bulletin (APSB22-26). Avoid opening untrusted or unexpected InDesign files from unknown sources.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Adobe InDesign 16.5 (for version 16.x) or Adobe InDesign 17.4 (for version 17.x)

  1. 1. Close Adobe InDesign if it is currently running
  2. 2. Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or navigate to the Adobe InDesign download page
  3. 3. Locate Adobe InDesign in your installed applications
  4. 4. Check for available updates - Adobe will typically notify you of available security updates
  5. 5. If an update is available, click Update to download and install the fixed version
  6. 6. Alternatively, manually download the fixed version from Adobe's official website (helpx.adobe.com)
  7. 7. After installation, verify the installed version matches the fixed release (16.5 or later for v16, 17.4 or later for v17)
  8. 8. Reopen InDesign and confirm the application functions normally
Caveat Minor version upgrades typically preserve workflow compatibility; however, always test critical scripts and plugins with 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
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,340
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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-2022-28856 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