Substance 3d DesignerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-48639

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-12-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 13.0.0 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
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 Substance 3D Designer versions 13.0.0 (and earlier) and 13.1.0 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds write vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. 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 Substance 3D Designer contains an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in its file parsing logic. When processing maliciously crafted files (likely graph, substance, or 3D asset files), the application writes data beyond allocated memory boundaries, potentially allowing an attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the current user.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Substance 3D Designer to version 13.2.0 or later. Until the update is applied, avoid opening untrusted files from unknown sources.

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
Substance 3d DesignerApplication
Affected:<= 13.0.0

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
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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. Confirm Adobe Substance 3D Designer is installed
    Check for the application in the standard installation directory (Windows: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Substance 3D Designer or Mac: /Applications/Adobe Substance 3D Designer) or look for it in the system application list
    Affected if The application is found on the system
  2. Identify the installed version number
    Right-click the application executable (e.g., Adobe Substance 3D Designer.exe) and select Properties, then view the Details tab for the Product Version. On Mac, Control-click the app in Applications and select Get Info to view the Version field
    Affected if A version number is displayed in the Properties or Info window
  3. Compare your version to the affected range
    Compare the installed version you found against the affected range: version 13.0.0 and any earlier versions
    Affected if The installed version is 13.0.0 or lower (for example, 13.0.0, 12.x, 11.x, etc.)
  4. Verify the file parsing component is present
    Confirm the application includes its file import functionality by launching the application and checking if you can access the File > Open or File > Import menu options
    Affected if The file open/import functionality is available and the vulnerable version is installed

You are affected if Adobe Substance 3D Designer version 13.0.0 or earlier is installed on your system, as the vulnerability resides in the file parsing logic of these versions.

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 a release after 13.0.0
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Substance 3D Designer to version 13.2.0 or later. Until the update is applied, avoid opening untrusted files from unknown sources.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Adobe Substance 3D Designer version newer than 13.1.0 (check Adobe's official security bulletin for the exact fixed version)

  1. 1. Close Adobe Substance 3D Designer if it is currently running
  2. 2. Navigate to the Adobe Substance 3D Designer download page on helpx.adobe.com or the Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application
  3. 3. Check for available updates to Adobe Substance 3D Designer
  4. 4. Download and install the latest available version of Adobe Substance 3D Designer that includes the security fix for CVE-2023-48639
  5. 5. Verify the installed version by opening Substance 3D Designer and checking the version number in the application (typically found in Help > About)
  6. 6. Ensure the installed version is newer than 13.1.0
Caveat Review Adobe's release notes for the new version as there may be changes to features, node behaviors, or workflow that could affect existing projects

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

Fix this in Substance 3d Designer Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-48639 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-48639 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