IndesignApplication · Adobe

CVE-2024-49549

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-12-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 19.5.1 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
InDesign Desktop versions ID19.5, ID18.5.4 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

InDesign Desktop versions ID19.5, ID18.5.4 and earlier contain an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that allows disclosure of sensitive memory contents. Successful exploitation enables attackers to leak memory addresses, which can be used to bypass ASLR address space layout randomization protections. The attack vector requires user interaction—specifically, a victim must open a maliciously crafted InDesign file.

MitigationApply Adobe's security updates for InDesign to patched versions. Until patches are available, instruct users not to open untrusted or unsolicited InDesign 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
IndesignApplication
Affected:<= 18.5.4>= 19.0, < 19.5.1

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. Identify installed InDesign version
    On Windows, open Control Panel > Programs and Features and locate Adobe InDesign to view the version. On macOS, open Terminal and run 'defaults read /Applications/Adobe\ InDesign\ CC\ 2024/Info CFBundleShortVersionString' adjusting the path for your installed version, or use System Information > Applications to find the version.
    Affected if Version is 18.5.4 or earlier, OR version is 19.0 through 19.5.0 (19.5.1 and later are patched)
  2. Compare against affected version ranges
    If you have version 19.x, verify it is 19.5.1 or higher. If you have version 18.x, verify it is higher than 18.5.4. Adobe releases are typically named like CC 2024 (19.x) and CC 2023 (18.x).
    Affected if Installed version is <= 18.5.4 or >= 19.0 but < 19.5.1
  3. Assess user file handling behavior
    Determine whether users in your environment open InDesign files received via email, downloads, or other untrusted sources. Check with security awareness training records or endpoint monitoring for .indd file openings from external locations.
    Affected if Users routinely open InDesign files from untrusted or unknown sources without verification

Environment is affected if InDesign version is 18.5.4 or earlier, or 19.0 through 19.5.0, and users can be convinced to open a maliciously crafted InDesign file.

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 19.5.1 or later
Fixed in 19.5.1
Interim mitigation

Apply Adobe's security updates for InDesign to patched versions. Until patches are available, instruct users not to open untrusted or unsolicited InDesign files from unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe InDesign version 19.5.1 or later

  1. Close Adobe InDesign if it is currently running
  2. Navigate to the official Adobe website and download Adobe InDesign version 19.5.1 or later
  3. Run the downloaded installer and follow the on-screen prompts to install the update
  4. Launch InDesign and verify the version by going to Help > About Adobe InDesign

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

Fix this in Indesign Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-49549 — 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-2024-49549 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