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IndesignApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-44346

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-02-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 18.5.1 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 ID18.5 (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 confidence

Adobe InDesign versions 18.5 and earlier, and 17.4.2 and earlier contain an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that allows disclosure of sensitive memory contents. An attacker can exploit this by crafting a malicious InDesign file that, when opened by a victim, reads beyond allocated memory boundaries. This memory disclosure can be leveraged to defeat ASLR protections, potentially facilitating more severe follow-on exploits such as code execution.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied security update for Adobe InDesign to the latest patched version. Additionally, implement user awareness training to discourage opening files from untrusted sources, and consider email gateway filtering to block suspicious attachment types.

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:<= 17.4.2>= 18.0, < 18.5.1

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. Check installed Adobe InDesign version on Windows
    Open Control Panel > Programs and Features, locate Adobe InDesign in the list, and note the version column. Alternatively, run 'reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\InDesign.exe" /v Version' in Command Prompt.
    Affected if The reported version is 17.4.2 or earlier, or falls between 18.0 and 18.5.0 inclusive.
  2. Check installed Adobe InDesign version on macOS
    Open Finder, navigate to Applications folder, right-click Adobe InDesign, select Get Info, and read the Version field under General.
    Affected if The reported version is 17.4.2 or earlier, or falls between 18.0 and 18.5.0 inclusive.
  3. Verify InDesign is configured to open files automatically
    Check if file associations are set to automatically open IDML or INDD files. On Windows, go to Default Apps > Choose default apps by file type. On macOS, go to Finder > Get Info > Open with.
    Affected if InDesign is the default handler for .indd or .idml files and opens them without user confirmation.
  4. Review recent InDesign file handling activity
    Check email logs or endpoint detection logs for instances where users opened .indd or .idml files from external or untrusted sources.
    Affected if Users have recently opened InDesign files from sources outside your organization's approved file workflow.

Your environment is affected if Adobe InDesign version 17.4.2 or earlier, or version 18.0 through 18.5.0 is installed and users can open InDesign files from untrusted sources.

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 18.5.1 or later
Fixed in 18.5.1
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied security update for Adobe InDesign to the latest patched version. Additionally, implement user awareness training to discourage opening files from untrusted sources, and consider email gateway filtering to block suspicious attachment types.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe InDesign 18.5.1 (for ID18.x line) or 17.4.3 (for ID17.x line)

  1. 1. Close Adobe InDesign if it is currently running
  2. 2. Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or navigate to helpx.adobe.com/installation
  3. 3. Locate Adobe InDesign in your installed applications
  4. 4. Check the current version by opening InDesign and going to Help > About InDesign
  5. 5. If version is 17.4.2 or earlier, or 18.0 through 18.5, initiate the update to version 17.4.3 or later
  6. 6. If version is 18.0 through 18.5.0, initiate the update to version 18.5.1 or later
  7. 7. Wait for the update to download and install completely
  8. 8. Restart InDesign and verify the version shows 17.4.3 or 18.5.1 (or newer) under Help > About InDesign
Caveat Standard minor version upgrades within same major release typically have minimal compatibility risk; ensure backup of critical IDML files before opening untrusted files

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

Fix this in Indesign Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,980
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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-2023-44346 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