CVE-2025-27167
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 · uneditedIllustrator versions 29.2.1, 28.7.4 and earlier are affected by an Untrusted Search Path vulnerability that might allow attackers to execute their own programs, access unauthorized data files, or modify configuration in unexpected ways. If the application uses a search path to locate critical resources such as programs, then an attacker could modify that search path to point to a malicious program, which the targeted application would then execute. The problem extends to any type of critical resource that the application trusts.
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 confidenceAdobe Illustrator versions 29.2.1, 28.7.4 and earlier contain an Untrusted Search Path vulnerability where the application uses a search path to locate critical resources such as programs. An attacker with local access can modify this search path to point to a malicious program, causing the application to execute attacker-controlled code with the same privileges as the user running Illustrator.
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>= 28.0, < 28.7.5>= 29.0, < 29.3CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Determine installed Adobe Illustrator versionOpen Adobe Illustrator and navigate to Help > About Illustrator, or check the version in the Adobe Creative Cloud desktop applicationAffected if Version is 28.0 through 28.7.4, or 29.0 through 29.2.1
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Identify the Illustrator installation directoryLocate the Adobe Illustrator installation folder - typically found in Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator (version)\Support Files\Contents\Windows on WindowsAffected if The installation directory exists and contains Illustrator executables
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Verify directory permissions are restrictiveCheck file system permissions on the Illustrator installation directory to ensure non-privileged users cannot modify or add files - use icacls or file explorer Properties > Security tabAffected if Standard users or untrusted accounts have write permissions to the Illustrator installation directory or its subdirectories
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Audit for suspicious files in application pathExamine the Illustrator installation directory for unexpected executable files (.exe, .dll, .bat, .cmd) that were not part of the original installationAffected if Unknown or unexpected executables are present in the application directory
You are affected if your installed Illustrator version falls within 28.0-28.7.4 or 29.0-29.2.1 AND the application directory or search paths are writable by unprivileged local users.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped28.7.529.3
Update Adobe Illustrator to the latest patched version released by Adobe. Additionally, ensure the application directory and search paths are not writable by unprivileged users and avoid running the application from untrusted network locations.
Upgrade to Illustrator 28.7.5 or 29.3 (depending on your major version track)
- Close Adobe Illustrator completely before updating
- Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application
- Navigate to the Apps section in Creative Cloud
- Find Adobe Illustrator in the installed apps list
- Click the Update button next to Adobe Illustrator to install the latest version
- Alternatively, download the updated version directly from adobe.com/support/downloads/
- After installation, verify the version by going to Help > About Adobe Illustrator
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-27167 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-27167 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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