CVE-2023-21598
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 InCopy versions 18.0 (and earlier), 17.4 (and earlier) are affected by a Use After Free 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 confidenceAdobe InCopy versions 18.0 and earlier and 17.4 and earlier contain a Use After Free vulnerability in memory handling. When exploited, an attacker can read sensitive memory contents after a memory object has been freed, potentially leaking addresses that can be used to bypass ASLR mitigation. Successful exploitation requires a victim to open a specially crafted malicious file.
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>= 17.0, <= 17.4= 18.0CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Adobe InCopy versionOpen Adobe InCopy, then go to Help > About InCopy to display the version number. Alternatively, check the Windows Registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\InCopy or on macOS by right-clicking the Application and selecting Get Info.Affected if The displayed version is 17.0, 17.1, 17.2, 17.3, 17.4, or 18.0
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Verify InCopy is present on the systemSearch for the InCopy executable (incopy.exe on Windows, InCopy on macOS) in typical installation directories such as C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InCopy 2023 or /Applications/Adobe InCopy 2023.Affected if Adobe InCopy version 18.0 or any version from 17.0 through 17.4 is installed and the file exists
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Confirm the vulnerability trigger conditionReview recently opened files in InCopy. Check for .icml or .icap file extensions which are the native document formats that could contain malicious content exploiting this Use After Free flaw.Affected if A user has opened an untrusted or suspicious .icml or .icap file on an affected InCopy version
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Check for memory leak indicatorsMonitor the InCopy process using Windows Task Manager or Process Explorer. Look for unusual memory patterns or crashes that could indicate exploitation of this vulnerability.Affected if InCopy exhibits abnormal memory behavior or crashes after opening untrusted files on an affected version
A system is affected if Adobe InCopy version 17.0 through 17.4 or version 18.0 is installed and a user has opened a specially crafted malicious .icml or .icap 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.
dbcve · scopedApply the vendor security update from Adobe (version 18.1 and 17.4.1 or later). Until patched, advise users not to open untrusted InCopy files. Monitor for phishing attempts delivering malicious .icml or .icap files.
Adobe InCopy 18.1 or later
- 1. Close Adobe InCopy if it is currently running
- 2. Back up any important InCopy documents and settings
- 3. Uninstall the current version of Adobe InCopy
- 4. Download Adobe InCopy version 18.1 or later from the official Adobe website (helpx.adobe.com)
- 5. Install the updated version by running the installer and following the on-screen prompts
- 6. Verify the installed version matches the fixed release (18.1 or higher)
- 7. Test that InCopy launches and functions normally with your typical documents
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 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-2023-21598 — 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-2023-21598 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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