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IndesignApplication · Adobe

CVE-2025-21124

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 19.5.2 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 ID20.0, ID19.5.1 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 · moderate confidence

Adobe InDesign Desktop versions ID20.0, ID19.5.1 and earlier contain an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that can lead to disclosure of sensitive memory contents. An attacker can exploit this by crafting a malicious InDesign file that, when opened by a victim, causes the application to read memory beyond allocated buffers. This memory disclosure can be leveraged to bypass ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) mitigations, potentially facilitating further exploitation.

MitigationUsers should avoid opening InDesign files from untrusted or unknown sources. Organizations should ensure InDesign is updated to the latest patched version once Adobe releases an update. Deploy endpoint detection and email filtering to block malicious file attachments.

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:< 19.5.2= 20.0

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
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. Locate installed Adobe InDesign version
    On Windows: Open Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\InDesign\InstallVersion, or check C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign [Version] for the folder name. On Mac: Open Applications > Adobe InDesign [Version] > right-click > Get Info, or run 'defaults read /Applications/Adobe\ InDesign\ */Adobe\ InDesign.app/Contents/Info CFBundleShortVersionString'
    Affected if Unable to locate InDesign installation means the software is not present on this system
  2. Compare your installed version to affected range
    Identify the full version number (e.g., 19.5.1, 20.0, 19.5.2). Compare against: versions 20.0 and 19.5.1 or earlier are vulnerable. Version 19.5.2 and later are patched. If you see multiple installations, check the newest version.
    Affected if Installed version equals 20.0 OR is 19.5.1 or earlier (any version below 19.5.2)
  3. Identify file processing behavior
    Review email security policies, endpoint protection, and user workflows to determine whether InDesign files from external or untrusted sources are commonly opened on affected systems. Check if email gateways or endpoint solutions are configured to scan or block .indd and .idml attachments.
    Affected if Users routinely open InDesign files from external, untrusted, or unknown sources without prior validation

You are affected if Adobe InDesign version 20.0 or any version 19.5.1 and earlier is installed AND the system processes 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 19.5.2 or later
Fixed in 19.5.2
Interim mitigation

Users should avoid opening InDesign files from untrusted or unknown sources. Organizations should ensure InDesign is updated to the latest patched version once Adobe releases an update. Deploy endpoint detection and email filtering to block malicious file attachments.

Recommended fix High confidence

InDesign 19.5.2 or later (or latest stable release)

  1. 1. Close Adobe InDesign if currently running
  2. 2. Back up any important InDesign documents and workspace settings
  3. 3. Navigate to the Adobe InDesign download page at helpx.adobe.com or open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application
  4. 4. Check for available updates for InDesign
  5. 5. Download and install InDesign version 19.5.2 or later (or the latest available version)
  6. 6. Restart your computer after installation completes
  7. 7. Verify the installed version by opening InDesign and checking Help > About InDesign
Caveat Review Adobe's release notes for version 19.5.2 for any feature changes or known issues before upgrading

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

Fix this in Indesign Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,720
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2025-21124 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