CVE-2025-43592
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 19.5.3 and earlier are affected by an Access of Uninitialized Pointer 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 confidenceAdobe InDesign Desktop versions 19.5.3 and earlier contain an Access of Uninitialized Pointer vulnerability. When a victim opens a specially crafted malicious InDesign file, the application attempts to use a pointer that was not properly initialized, leading to memory corruption that can be leveraged for arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user.
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< 19.5.4>= 20.0, < 20.4CVSS 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.
-
Identify installed InDesign version on WindowsOpen Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\InDesign\InstallVersion, or check the version in Add/Remove Programs. Alternatively, right-click the InDesign shortcut, select Properties, and check the Details tab for the product version.Affected if The version listed is less than 19.5.4, or is 20.0, 20.1, 20.2, or 20.3 (anything from 20.0 up to but not including 20.4)
-
Identify installed InDesign version on macOSOpen Terminal and run: defaults read /Applications/Adobe\ InDesign\*/Adobe\ InDesign\*\ Info CFBundleVersion, replacing wildcards as needed for your installation path. Or right-click Adobe InDesign in Applications, select Get Info, and check the version number.Affected if The version listed is less than 19.5.4, or is between 20.0 and 20.3 inclusive
-
Confirm the application is actively used with external filesCheck if the user or system has recent .indd or .idml files in Documents, Downloads, or shared network locations. On Windows, examine recently opened files via the application's recent files list at %APPDATA%\Adobe\InDesign\Version. On macOS, check ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/InDesign/Version.Affected if The application is used to open InDesign files from various sources, as the vulnerability is triggered specifically by opening a specially crafted malicious file
A user is affected if Adobe InDesign Desktop version is below 19.5.4 or falls between 20.0 and 20.3, and they open untrusted or crafted InDesign files.
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 · scoped19.5.420.4
Update Adobe InDesign Desktop to version 19.6 or later. Until patched, avoid opening InDesign files from untrusted or unknown sources.
InDesign 19.5.4 or later; InDesign 20.4 or later
- Verify current InDesign version by launching the application and going to Help > About Adobe InDesign
- Close InDesign completely before updating
- Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application
- Navigate to the Apps section
- Find Adobe InDesign in the list of installed apps
- Click the Update button next to InDesign
- Wait for the update to download and install
- Restart InDesign after the update completes
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-43592 — 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-2025-43592 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
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.
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