CVE-2025-54210
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 20.4, 19.5.4 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 confidenceAdobe InDesign Desktop contains an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in versions 20.4, 19.5.4 and earlier. When a user opens a specially crafted malicious file, the vulnerability allows an attacker to write data outside the bounds of allocated memory, leading to 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< 19.5.5>= 20.0, < 20.5CVSS 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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Locate installed InDesign version on WindowsOpen Windows Registry Editor (regedit) and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\InDesign\InstallVersion, or check the version in Add/Remove ProgramsAffected if Version entry is less than 19.5.5 or greater than or equal to 20.0 but less than 20.5
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Locate installed InDesign version on macOSOpen Finder, go to Applications > Adobe InDesign, right-click and select Get Info, or use Terminal: defaults read /Applications/Adobe\ InDesign*/Adobe\ InDesign*.app/Contents/Info CFBundleShortVersionStringAffected if Version string is less than 19.5.5 or greater than or equal to 20.0 but less than 20.5
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Check InDesign version from within the applicationLaunch InDesign, go to Help > About InDesign and note the version number displayedAffected if Version shown is less than 19.5.5 or shows 20.0 through 20.4.x
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Verify version is within affected rangeCompare your found version against the affected ranges: any version before 19.5.5 (19.x line) or any version from 20.0 up to but not including 20.5Affected if Your installed version matches any of these ranges: < 19.5.5 OR >= 20.0 AND < 20.5
You are affected if Adobe InDesign Desktop is installed with any version before 19.5.5 in the 19.x line, or version 20.0 through 20.4.x in the 20.x line.
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 · scoped19.5.520.5
Update InDesign Desktop to the latest patched version (20.5 or later for 20.x, or the latest 19.5.x patch). Additionally, train users to avoid opening InDesign files from untrusted or unknown sources.
InDesign 19.5.5 or later, or InDesign 20.5 or later
- Open Adobe InDesign and check the current version via Help > About InDesign
- If running version 19.5.4 or earlier, or version 20.0-20.4, update to version 19.5.5 or later
- If running version 20.0-20.4, update to version 20.5 or later
- Launch Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application and navigate to the Updates section, or visit the official Adobe downloads page
- Download and install the latest InDesign version (19.5.5+ or 20.5+)
- Restart InDesign after installation completes
- Verify the installed version matches the fixed release
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-54210 — 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-2025-54210 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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- 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