CVE-2025-27179
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 · uneditedInDesign Desktop versions ID20.1, ID19.5.2 and earlier are affected by a NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability that could result in an application denial-of-service. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to crash the application, leading to a denial-of-service condition. 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 confidenceInDesign Desktop versions ID20.1, ID19.5.2 and earlier contain a NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability in the file parsing logic. When processing a specially crafted malicious file, the application attempts to dereference a NULL pointer, causing a crash and denial-of-service condition.
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< 19.5.3>= 20.0, < 20.2CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/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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Identify installed Adobe InDesign versionOpen Adobe InDesign, then go to Help > About Adobe InDesign (or check the application properties on Windows via Programs and Features / Add or Remove Programs). The version number displays in the format like "20.1" or "19.5.2".Affected if The version displayed is less than 19.5.3, or is 20.0 or 20.1 (version 20.2 and later are not affected).
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Confirm InDesign Desktop editionEnsure the installed product is Adobe InDesign Desktop (not InCopy or other Creative Cloud applications). Check the product name in the installed programs list or the application title bar.Affected if The product is Adobe InDesign Desktop and version falls in the affected range from step 1.
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Understand the attack vectorRecognize that this vulnerability is triggered only when InDesign parses a specially crafted malicious file. The crash occurs during file processing, not through normal application use.Affected if The vulnerable version is installed AND the user opens or processes files from untrusted or unknown sources.
You are affected if Adobe InDesign Desktop version is 19.5.2 or earlier, or is 20.0 or 20.1, and you open or process files from untrusted sources.
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 · scoped19.5.320.2
Update to the latest Adobe InDesign version that includes the security patch. Avoid opening files from untrusted or unknown sources.
InDesign 19.5.3 or later, or InDesign 20.2 or later (depending on your major version branch)
- Close Adobe InDesign if currently running
- Ensure all InDesign work files are saved and backed up
- Navigate to the Adobe InDesign download page at helpx.adobe.com
- Download InDesign version 19.5.3 (for 19.x branch) or version 20.2 or later (for 20.x branch)
- Run the downloaded installer
- Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation
- Restart your computer after installation completes
- Launch InDesign to verify the update was successful
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-27179 — 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-2025-27179 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