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IndesignApplication · Adobe

CVE-2025-43593

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 · high confidence

Adobe InDesign Desktop contains an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in versions ID20.2, ID19.5.3 and earlier that allows arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Exploitation requires user interaction where a victim must open a specially crafted malicious file, making social engineering a key attack vector.

MitigationUpdate InDesign to the latest patched version released by Adobe. Until patched, instruct users to avoid opening InDesign files from untrusted or unknown sources.

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. Locate InDesign installation path
    Open Windows Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\InDesign or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Adobe\InDesign. Note the folder names listed under the version keys.
    Affected if No InDesign installation is found in the registry.
  2. Identify installed InDesign version
    In the registry path from step 1, locate the InstallVersion value under each version key (for example, folder names like "20.0" or "19.5"). Check the string value under InstallVersion which shows the full version number (for example, 20.0.0 or 19.5.3).
    Affected if The InstallVersion value is missing or unreadable.
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    Examine the version number from step 2. Vulnerable versions are: 19.5.3 and earlier (anything below 19.5.4), or any version from 20.0 up to but not including 20.3. For example, 19.5.3, 20.0, 20.1, 20.2 are all affected. Version 19.5.4 or 20.3 and later are patched.
    Affected if The installed version falls within < 19.5.4 OR >= 20.0 but < 20.3.
  4. Assess user interaction risk
    Review whether users in the environment commonly open InDesign files (.indd, .idml) from external sources, email attachments, or untrusted network locations. This vulnerability requires a victim to explicitly open a maliciously crafted file.
    Affected if Users routinely open InDesign files from untrusted or unknown sources.

A system is affected if the installed Adobe InDesign version is below 19.5.4 or falls between 20.0 and 20.2 inclusive, and users may open files from untrusted sources.

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

Update InDesign to the latest patched version released by Adobe. Until patched, instruct users to avoid opening InDesign files from untrusted or unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe InDesign 19.5.4 or 20.3

  1. 1. Close Adobe InDesign if it is currently running
  2. 2. Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or navigate to https://creativecloud.adobe.com/apps
  3. 3. Locate Adobe InDesign in your installed applications
  4. 4. Click the update button or check for updates to install the latest version
  5. 5. Alternatively, manually download InDesign version 19.5.4 or version 20.3 from the Adobe website
  6. 6. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the update
  7. 7. Restart InDesign after the update completes
  8. 8. Verify the installed version by going to Help > About InDesign

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

Fix this in Indesign Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.

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-2025-43593 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