dbcve.org
PhotoshopApplication · Adobe

CVE-2025-21127

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-01-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 25.12.1 / 26.2 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
Photoshop Desktop versions 25.12, 26.1 and earlier are affected by an Uncontrolled Search Path Element vulnerability that could lead to arbitrary code execution. An attacker could manipulate the search path environment variable to point to a malicious library, resulting in the execution of arbitrary code when the application loads. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must run the vulnerable application.

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 Photoshop Desktop versions 25.12, 26.1 and earlier contain an Uncontrolled Search Path Element vulnerability (DLL hijacking). An attacker can manipulate the DLL search path environment variable to point to a malicious library, which gets loaded by Photoshop at startup, resulting in arbitrary code execution with the user's privileges.

MitigationUpdate Photoshop to version 25.12 or 26.1 or later via Adobe's official channels. In the interim, ensure only trusted users have write access to directories in the application search path and avoid launching Photoshop from untrusted network locations.

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
PhotoshopApplication
Affected:>= 25.0, < 25.12.1>= 26.0, < 26.2

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. Check installed Photoshop version
    Open Photoshop, go to Help > About Photoshop (or About Adobe Photoshop) to view the exact version number. Alternatively, check Programs and Features in Control Panel or the application's executable properties.
    Affected if The version displayed is 25.0 through 25.12.0, or 26.0 through 26.1 (versions less than 25.12.1 or 26.2).
  2. Identify Photoshop DLL search paths
    Open Photoshop and check the environment variables PATH, and on Windows also PSModulePath if set. Look for directories listed in the system PATH that are writable by non-admin users or located in user-accessible locations such as network shares or USB drives.
    Affected if Any directory in the DLL search path is writable by an untrusted user or located on an untrusted network location that could contain a malicious DLL with a name Photoshop attempts to load.
  3. Inspect for suspicious DLLs in search paths
    Examine directories in the PATH environment variable and Photoshop's working directory for unexpected DLL files (e.g., not from Adobe). Common targets include DLLs with names like msvcp140.dll, vcruntime140.dll, or other commonly loaded system DLLs that could be replaced.
    Affected if Unexpected DLL files exist in directories that Photoshop will search when starting, particularly in locations writable by other users or on network paths.
  4. Check DLL load behavior
    Use a process monitor tool (such as Process Monitor from Sysinternals) with a filter for Photoshop.exe to observe which DLLs are loaded at startup and from which paths they are loaded.
    Affected if DLLs are being loaded from directories outside the official Adobe installation folder (e.g., from user-writable PATH directories or network locations).

You are affected if your installed Photoshop version is 25.0-25.12.0 or 26.0-26.1 AND untrusted directories exist in your DLL search path where a malicious DLL could be placed and loaded at Photoshop startup.

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 25.12.1 / 26.2 or later
Fixed in 25.12.126.2
Interim mitigation

Update Photoshop to version 25.12 or 26.1 or later via Adobe's official channels. In the interim, ensure only trusted users have write access to directories in the application search path and avoid launching Photoshop from untrusted network locations.

Recommended fix High confidence

Photoshop 25.12.1 or 26.2

  1. Close Adobe Photoshop completely before applying the update
  2. Open the Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application
  3. Navigate to the Creative Cloud apps section and find Adobe Photoshop
  4. Click the update button to install the latest version, or manually download version 25.12.1 (for 25.x branch) or version 26.2 (for 26.x branch) from helpx.adobe.com
  5. Verify the installed version by going to Help > About Photoshop in the application

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

Fix this in Photoshop Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,260
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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-2025-21127 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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