dbcve.org
IndesignApplication · Adobe

CVE-2022-38415

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-09-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 17.3 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
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 a Heap-based Buffer Overflow vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. 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

Heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in Adobe InDesign versions 16.4.2/17.3 and earlier allows arbitrary code execution when a user opens a maliciously crafted INDD file. The flaw occurs in memory handling during file parsing, enabling an attacker to overwrite heap memory and execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user.

MitigationUpdate Adobe InDesign to a patched version beyond 16.4.2 and 17.3. Avoid opening InDesign files from untrusted or unknown sources until the update is applied.

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
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 checks

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

  1. Check if Adobe InDesign is installed
    Open Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or macOS Applications folder, and look for Adobe InDesign listing
    Affected if Adobe InDesign is not present on the system
  2. Find installed InDesign version on Windows
    Right-click the InDesign application in the Start menu, select Properties, and view the Details tab for the Version field; or open InDesign and go to Help > About Adobe InDesign
    Affected if The displayed version falls within 16.0 to 16.4.2 or 17.0 to 17.3 inclusive
  3. Find installed InDesign version on macOS
    Open Applications > Adobe InDesign, select the app, then press Cmd+I to get Info, or open InDesign and go to InDesign menu > About Adobe InDesign
    Affected if The displayed version falls within 16.0 to 16.4.2 or 17.0 to 17.3 inclusive
  4. Identify exact version number
    Compare your installed version number against the affected ranges: 16.0 through 16.4.2, or 17.0 through 17.3. Note that versions 16.4.3 and 17.4 or higher are patched.
    Affected if The version number matches any version from 16.0 to 16.4.2 or from 17.0 to 17.3

If Adobe InDesign is installed and the version falls within 16.0 to 16.4.2 or 17.0 to 17.3, the environment is vulnerable to this CVE when opening malicious INDD 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 17.3
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe InDesign to a patched version beyond 16.4.2 and 17.3. Avoid opening InDesign files from untrusted or unknown sources until the update is applied.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Adobe InDesign 16.5 or later for version 16.x line; Adobe InDesign 17.4 or later for version 17.x line

  1. 1. Close Adobe InDesign if it is currently running
  2. 2. Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or navigate to adobe.com/downloads
  3. 3. Locate Adobe InDesign in your available applications
  4. 4. Click Update or Install to upgrade to the fixed version
  5. 5. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds the fixed release (16.5 or later for version 16.x line; 17.4 or later for version 17.x line)
  6. 6. Do not open untrusted or unexpected InDesign files received via email or downloaded from untrusted sources
Caveat Minor release upgrades typically preserve workflows and settings; however, always back up custom scripts and templates before upgrading major versions

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

Fix this in Indesign Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,620
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2022-38415 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