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IndesignApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-29317

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-07-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 17.4.2 / 18.4 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 ID18.3 (and earlier) and ID17.4.1 (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

An out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Adobe InDesign allows disclosure of sensitive memory contents, which can be leveraged to bypass ASLR security mitigations. Exploitation requires a victim to open a specially crafted malicious file, making social engineering a necessary component of any attack.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied security update from Adobe to patched versions ID18.4 and ID17.4.2. Until patched, instruct users to avoid opening untrusted InDesign documents.

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:>= 17.0, < 17.4.2>= 18.0, < 18.4

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. Verify Adobe InDesign is installed
    Check for InDesign installation on the system. On Windows, look in Program Files/Adobe or use Add/Remove Programs. On macOS, check /Applications for Adobe InDesign.app. Alternatively, search for the executable 'InDesign.exe' (Windows) or 'Adobe InDesign.app' (macOS).
    Affected if InDesign is not installed on the system - the vulnerability cannot apply.
  2. Determine the installed InDesign version
    Locate InDesign and check its version. On Windows: Right-click the InDesign exe, select Properties, then Details tab for Product Version. On macOS: Right-click Adobe InDesign.app, Get Info, check Version. Alternatively, you can launch InDesign and go to Help > About Adobe InDesign to see the exact version number.
    Affected if Unable to determine the installed version - cannot assess exposure.
  3. Compare version against affected range 17.x
    Check if the installed version falls within >= 17.0 and < 17.4.2. Affected versions are 17.0 through 17.4.1.
    Affected if Installed version is 17.0.x through 17.4.1 - system is vulnerable.
  4. Compare version against affected range 18.x
    Check if the installed version falls within >= 18.0 and < 18.4. Affected versions are 18.0 through 18.3.x.
    Affected if Installed version is 18.0.x through 18.3.x - system is vulnerable.

A system is affected only if Adobe InDesign is installed and the installed version falls within 17.0 to 17.4.1 OR 18.0 to 18.3, and the user opens a 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 17.4.2 / 18.4 or later
Fixed in 17.4.218.4
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied security update from Adobe to patched versions ID18.4 and ID17.4.2. Until patched, instruct users to avoid opening untrusted InDesign documents.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe InDesign 17.4.2 or later for the ID17.x release line; Adobe InDesign 18.4 or later for the ID18.x release line

  1. 1. Verify the current installed version of Adobe InDesign by opening the application and navigating to Help > About InDesign
  2. 2. If running version 17.0 through 17.4.1, download and install version 17.4.2 or later from Adobe's official download page
  3. 3. If running version 18.0 through 18.3, download and install version 18.4 or later from Adobe's official download page
  4. 4. After installation, restart the application and confirm the version update was successful via Help > About InDesign
  5. 5. Remind users to avoid opening untrusted or unexpected InDesign files from unknown sources, as exploitation requires user interaction to open a malicious file
Caveat Security update with no expected breaking changes; standard minor version upgrade within same major release

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

Fix this in Indesign Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

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-2023-29317 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