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IndesignApplication · Adobe

CVE-2025-43590

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-06-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 19.5.4 / 20.3 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
InDesign Desktop versions ID20.2, ID19.5.3 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 · moderate confidence

Adobe InDesign Desktop versions ID20.2, ID19.5.3 and earlier contain an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in the file parsing logic. Successful exploitation allows arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user, but requires the victim to open a specially crafted malicious InDesign file.

MitigationOrganizations should prevent users from opening untrusted InDesign files and apply vendor patches when released. Until a patch is available, consider using application whitelisting or restricting file type associations.

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:< 19.5.4>= 20.0, < 20.3

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 InDesign version on Windows
    Open Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\InDesign\InstallRoot, or run: powershell "(Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Adobe\InDesign\InstallRoot').DefaultVersion"
    Affected if The version shown is 19.5.3 or earlier, or is 20.0, 20.1, or 20.2
  2. Check InDesign version on macOS
    Open Terminal and run: defaults read /Applications/Adobe\ InDesign\*/Adobe\ InDesign*.app/Contents/Info CFBundleVersion, or open InDesign and go to Help > About Adobe InDesign
    Affected if The version shown is 19.5.3 or earlier, or is 20.0, 20.1, or 20.2
  3. Verify InDesign is installed and parseable
    Confirm the InDesign application exists at the standard install path: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign 2024 or C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign 2025 on Windows, or /Applications/Adobe InDesign on macOS
    Affected if InDesign is installed and the vulnerable file parsing component is present
  4. Compare version against CVE ranges
    If you found a version number, compare it to: 19.x versions below 19.5.4, or 20.x versions below 20.3. Note: Versions 19.5.4 and 20.3 and later are patched.
    Affected if Your installed version falls below 19.5.4 or is 20.0-20.2, making the file parsing logic vulnerable to the out-of-bounds write when opening untrusted files

If InDesign is installed and the version is 19.5.3 or earlier, or 20.0 through 20.2, the environment is affected and the file parsing vulnerability can be triggered by opening a malicious InDesign file.

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 19.5.4 / 20.3 or later
Fixed in 19.5.420.3
Interim mitigation

Organizations should prevent users from opening untrusted InDesign files and apply vendor patches when released. Until a patch is available, consider using application whitelisting or restricting file type associations.

Recommended fix High confidence

InDesign 19.5.4 or later for 19.x users; InDesign 20.3 or later for 20.x users

  1. Identify the currently installed Adobe InDesign version from the application menu (InDesign > About InDesign)
  2. For InDesign versions 19.x (e.g., 19.5.3 or earlier): Upgrade to version 19.5.4 or later
  3. For InDesign versions 20.0 - 20.2: Upgrade to version 20.3 or later
  4. Download the updated version from the official Adobe website or through the Creative Cloud desktop application
  5. Launch the installer and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation
  6. Restart InDesign after the update is installed
Caveat Standard Adobe update - minimal risk; ensure project files are backed up before updating as a precaution

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

Fix this in Indesign Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,300
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,680.

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-2025-43590 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