CVE-2023-29319
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 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 confidenceAdobe InDesign versions ID18.3 and earlier and ID17.4.1 and earlier contain an out-of-bounds read vulnerability. The flaw allows reading memory beyond allocated buffer boundaries, potentially exposing sensitive information and enabling bypass of ASLR security mitigations. Exploitation requires a victim to open a specially crafted malicious InDesign 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, < 17.4.2>= 18.0, < 18.4CVSS 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 InDesign versionOn Windows, open Control Panel > Programs and Features and locate Adobe InDesign in the list, or run 'wmic product get name,version' in Command Prompt. On macOS, open Finder > Applications, right-click Adobe InDesign, select Get Info, and check the version number.Affected if The version shown is 17.x and less than 17.4.2, or 18.x and less than 18.4.
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Verify exact version number against affected rangesIf you found version 17.x, confirm it is >= 17.0 and < 17.4.2. If you found version 18.x, confirm it is >= 18.0 and < 18.4. Compare your full version string (including any minor build numbers) to these boundaries.Affected if The installed version falls within either >= 17.0 to < 17.4.2 OR >= 18.0 to < 18.4.
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Confirm InDesign file handling is accessibleVerify that InDesign can open .indd files normally. The vulnerability triggers when parsing specially crafted InDesign files, so the file parsing functionality must be present and operational.Affected if InDesign is installed with full file handling capabilities, and the user can open .indd documents.
You are affected if your installed InDesign version is 17.0 through 17.4.1 or 18.0 through 18.3, and you open InDesign files from untrusted sources.
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 · scoped17.4.218.4
Update Adobe InDesign to version 18.4 or later (for ID18.x) or version 17.4.2 or later (for ID17.x). Additionally, educate users to avoid opening InDesign files from untrusted or unknown sources.
Adobe InDesign 17.4.2 or later for version 17.x; Adobe InDesign 18.4 or later for version 18.x
- 1. Check the current Adobe InDesign version by opening InDesign and going to Help > About Adobe InDesign
- 2. For InDesign version 17.x: Upgrade to version 17.4.2 or later
- 3. For InDesign version 18.x: Upgrade to version 18.4 or later
- 4. Download the update from Adobe's official website (helpx.adobe.com) or through the Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application
- 5. Install the update following Adobe's standard installation process
- 6. Restart InDesign after the update is installed
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 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-2023-29319 — 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-2023-29319 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