CVE-2023-44344
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 versions ID18.5 and earlier, and ID17.4.2 and earlier contain an out-of-bounds read vulnerability. When a user opens a specially crafted malicious file, the application reads memory beyond allocated buffers, potentially exposing sensitive memory contents. This information disclosure can assist attackers in bypassing ASLR and other memory protection 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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Locate installed Adobe InDesign versionOpen Control Panel > Programs and Features (Windows) or check Applications folder (Mac). Look for Adobe InDesign entry and note the version number displayed.Affected if The listed version is 17.4.2 or earlier, or 18.0 through 18.5.0 (or 18.5.1 if that exact version is shown unpatched).
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Verify exact executable versionNavigate to the InDesign installation folder (typically C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign 2022\ or Adobe InDesign 2023\) and right-click InDesign.exe to view Properties > Details. Confirm the File Version field.Affected if The file version matches the affected ranges: <=17.4.2 or >=18.0 and <18.5.1.
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Check if user opens external IDML filesInspect user workflow for opening .indd, .idml, or other InDesign files from untrusted or external sources. This includes email attachments, downloaded files from the internet, or files from unverified creators.Affected if Users routinely open InDesign files from untrusted sources without verification.
A system is affected if the installed Adobe InDesign version falls within 17.4.2 or earlier, or 18.0 through 18.5.0/18.5.1, and users may 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 the latest patched version provided by Adobe. Avoid opening untrusted or unexpected InDesign files from unverified sources.
Adobe InDesign 17.4.3 (for 17.x branch) or Adobe InDesign 18.5.1 (for 18.x branch) or later
- 1. Close Adobe InDesign if it is currently running.
- 2. Open the Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or navigate to https://creativecloud.adobe.com/
- 3. Look for Adobe InDesign in your installed applications list.
- 4. If an update is available for InDesign, click the 'Update' button to download and install the latest version.
- 5. Alternatively, manually download the fixed version from Adobe's official website: https://www.adobe.com/products/indesign.html
- 6. Run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the update.
- 7. After installation, verify the version by opening InDesign and checking 'Help > About Adobe InDesign' to confirm you are on version 17.4.3 or later, or version 18.5.1 or later.
- 8. Do not open any untrusted or suspicious InDesign files received from unknown sources.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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-2023-44344 — 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-2023-44344 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