CVE-2023-21599
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 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 · moderate confidenceAdobe InCopy versions 18.0 and earlier and 17.4 and earlier contain an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that allows disclosure of sensitive memory contents. An attacker can craft a malicious InCopy file that, when opened by a victim, triggers the vulnerability to read beyond allocated buffer boundaries, potentially leaking memory addresses that could be used to bypass ASLR mitigation.
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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Verify Adobe InCopy is installedCheck for InCopy installation via the Windows Registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\InCopy or by locating the executable at C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InCopy [Version]\InCopy.exe or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe InCopy [Version]\InCopy.exe on Windows, or /Applications/Adobe InCopy on macOSAffected if Adobe InCopy is present on the system
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Determine installed InCopy version numberRight-click the InCopy.exe file, select Properties, then look at the Details tab for the Product Version field, or run 'Help > About Adobe InCopy' within the applicationAffected if The installed version falls within 17.0 through 17.4 inclusive, or is exactly 18.0
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Compare against affected version rangesCross-reference the identified version with the vulnerable ranges: 17.0 <= version <= 17.4, or version == 18.0Affected if The installed version matches 17.0-17.4 or 18.0 exactly
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Assess user interaction with untrusted filesReview whether users in the environment commonly open InCopy (.icml, .icpr, or older .incx formats) files received via email, downloaded from the internet, or from other untrusted sourcesAffected if Users routinely open InCopy files from untrusted or unknown sources without validation
A user is affected if they have Adobe InCopy version 17.0 through 17.4 or version 18.0 installed AND open a malicious InCopy file, leading to potential memory address disclosure and ASLR bypass.
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 patch from Adobe when available; in the interim, instruct users to avoid opening InCopy files from untrusted or unknown sources, as exploitation requires user interaction to open a malicious file.
Adobe InCopy version 18.1 or later (or the latest 17.x release after 17.4 as specified in the Adobe security bulletin)
- 1. Verify the currently installed Adobe InCopy version by opening InCopy and navigating to Help > About Adobe InCopy
- 2. Navigate to helpx.adobe.com to obtain the official Adobe security bulletin for CVE-2023-21599
- 3. Download and install the fixed version of Adobe InCopy as specified in the security bulletin
- 4. After installation, verify the new version matches the fixed release by checking Help > About Adobe InCopy
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,936.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21599 — 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-2023-21599 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data