dbcve.org
Substance 3d DesignerApplication · Adobe

CVE-2025-21161

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 14.1 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
Substance3D - Designer versions 14.0.2 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 Substance3D Designer versions 14.0.2 and earlier contain an out-of-bounds write vulnerability. When a user opens a specially crafted malicious .Designer file, the application writes data beyond allocated memory boundaries, potentially enabling arbitrary code execution with the current user's privileges.

MitigationUsers should refrain from opening untrusted or unsolicited .Designer files. Update Adobe Substance3D Designer to version 14.0.3 or later once the official patch is released. Apply vendor security updates promptly.

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:< 14.1

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
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. Verify Adobe Substance3D Designer is installed
    Check for the application in typical installation locations: Windows (Program Files/Adobe/Adobe Substance 3D Designer) or macOS (/Applications/Adobe Substance 3D Designer). Also check Add/Remove Programs on Windows or Applications folder on macOS.
    Affected if The application is present on the system
  2. Find the installed version number
    On Windows: Open Control Panel > Programs and Features, find Adobe Substance3D Designer and note the version column. On macOS: Right-click the application in Applications, select Get Info, and check the Version field. Alternatively, run the application and go to Help > About.
    Affected if A version number is displayed
  3. Compare against vulnerable version range
    The vulnerability affects versions prior to 14.1. Compare your installed version (such as 14.0.2, 14.0.1, 14.0, or earlier) against this threshold.
    Affected if Installed version is 14.0.2 or earlier, or any version shown as less than 14.1
  4. Confirm .Designer file handling is active
    The vulnerability triggers when opening .Designer files. Verify that .Designer file association exists (double-click a .Designer file or check file associations in Windows Explorer or macOS Finder).
    Affected if The application is configured to open .Designer files (this is default behavior)

You are affected if Adobe Substance3D Designer is installed with a version prior to 14.1, and the application handles .Designer files (the default configuration).

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 14.1 or later
Fixed in 14.1
Interim mitigation

Users should refrain from opening untrusted or unsolicited .Designer files. Update Adobe Substance3D Designer to version 14.0.3 or later once the official patch is released. Apply vendor security updates promptly.

Recommended fix High confidence

Substance 3D Designer 14.1

  1. Navigate to the Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or visit helpx.adobe.com
  2. Locate Substance 3D Designer in your installed applications
  3. Check for available updates or navigate to the Substance 3D Designer product page
  4. Download and install Substance 3D Designer version 14.1 or later
  5. Verify the installed version by opening Substance 3D Designer and checking the version number in the application menu (Help > About)
Caveat No breaking changes expected for this security update; this is a routine version upgrade

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

Fix this in Substance 3d Designer Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $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 $1,200.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-21161 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2025-21161 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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