CVE-2023-44343
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 ID18.5 (and earlier) and ID17.4.2 (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 contains an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in versions ID18.5 and earlier and ID17.4.2 and earlier. When a victim opens a specially crafted malicious file, the application reads memory beyond intended boundaries, potentially exposing sensitive memory contents. This information disclosure can be leveraged to bypass ASLR mitigations.
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<= 17.4.2>= 18.0, < 18.5.1CVSS 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 versionOpen Adobe InDesign and go to Help > About InDesign, or check the application version through the software center or installed programs list on your systemAffected if version is 17.4.2 or earlier, or 18.0 through 18.5.0 (18.5.1 and later are not affected)
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Compare your version to the affected rangesReview the version number found in the previous step against the affected ranges: version 17.4.2 or earlier, or version 18.0 through 18.5.0Affected if the installed version falls within either <=17.4.2 or >=18.0 AND <18.5.1
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Assess file handling practicesDetermine whether you or users in your environment commonly open InDesign files from untrusted or unknown sourcesAffected if untrusted files are opened without verification, as the vulnerability is triggered only when a specially crafted malicious file is opened
You are affected if your installed Adobe InDesign version is 17.4.2 or earlier, or 18.0 through 18.5.0, AND you open untrusted InDesign files.
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 · scoped18.5.1
Update Adobe InDesign to ID18.5.1 or later for version 18.x, or ID17.4.3 or later for version 17.x. Users should avoid opening untrusted or unexpected InDesign files.
Adobe InDesign 18.5.1 or later
- Close Adobe InDesign if it is currently running
- Navigate to the official Adobe website and download Adobe InDesign version 18.5.1 or later
- Run the downloaded installer and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the upgrade
- After installation, verify the version by going to Help > About Adobe InDesign to confirm the update was successful
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 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 $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-44343 — 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-2023-44343 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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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.
- 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