dbcve.org
IndesignApplication · Adobe

CVE-2025-54213

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 19.5.5 / 20.5 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 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 confidence

Adobe InDesign Desktop contains an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in versions 20.4, 19.5.4 and earlier. An attacker can craft a malicious InDesign file that, when opened by a victim, triggers memory corruption allowing arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user.

MitigationUpdate InDesign to the vendor-patched version immediately. Until patched, warn users not to open InDesign files from untrusted 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:< 19.5.5>= 20.0, < 20.5

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. Verify Adobe InDesign is installed
    Check if Adobe InDesign Desktop is present on the system. On Windows, open Add or Remove Programs and search for 'Adobe InDesign' or check the installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign).
    Affected if Adobe InDesign Desktop is installed on the system.
  2. Identify the installed InDesign version
    Open Adobe InDesign, then go to Help > About Adobe InDesign (or use the shortcut Ctrl+Alt+I) to display the version number. Alternatively, check the version in Add or Remove Programs.
    Affected if The displayed version matches the affected ranges.
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    The affected versions are: all builds below 19.5.5, and all builds from 20.0 up to but not including 20.5. Compare your installed version number (for example, 19.5.4 or 20.4) against these ranges.
    Affected if Your version is less than 19.5.5, or is 20.0 or higher but less than 20.5.
  4. Confirm the vulnerability trigger condition
    This vulnerability is triggered when a user opens a specially crafted malicious InDesign file (.indd). There is no special feature or configuration that must be enabled - the flaw exists in the file parsing logic of the affected versions.
    Affected if You are running an affected version and you open an untrusted InDesign file.

You are affected if Adobe InDesign Desktop is installed and the version number is either below 19.5.5 or falls between 20.0 and 20.4.x inclusive.

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 19.5.5 / 20.5 or later
Fixed in 19.5.520.5
Interim mitigation

Update InDesign to the vendor-patched version immediately. Until patched, warn users not to open InDesign files from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

InDesign 19.5.5 or 20.5 (and later)

  1. 1. Open Adobe InDesign
  2. 2. Go to Help > Check for Updates (or use Creative Cloud desktop app)
  3. 3. If updates are available, download and install InDesign version 19.5.5 (for 19.x branch) or version 20.5 (for 20.x branch)
  4. 4. Restart InDesign after the update completes
  5. 5. Verify the installed version by going to Help > About Adobe 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
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,300
Get the upgrade done

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-2025-54213 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