dbcve.org
IndesignApplication · Adobe

CVE-2025-54225

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 a Use After Free 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 20.4, 19.5.4 and earlier contain a Use After Free vulnerability that allows arbitrary code execution when a victim opens a malicious file. The flaw occurs when memory is accessed after being freed, enabling an attacker to execute code in the context of the current user.

MitigationUpdate to the latest version of Adobe InDesign Desktop as released by Adobe. Avoid opening untrusted .indd files from 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:< 19.5.5>= 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
    Windows: Open Control Panel > Programs and Features, or search for 'InDesign' in the Start menu. macOS: Open Finder > Applications and look for Adobe InDesign.
    Affected if Adobe InDesign Desktop is not found on the system, this CVE does not apply.
  2. Find the installed InDesign version number
    Windows: Open InDesign, go to Help > About Adobe InDesign. macOS: Open InDesign, go to InDesign menu > About Adobe InDesign. Alternatively, check the Windows Registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\InDesign\InstallVersion or the macOS application bundle info.plist.
    Affected if Unable to determine the version number prevents assessment of this vulnerability.
  3. Compare your version against affected ranges
    Check if your version is: 19.5.4 or earlier, OR any version from 20.0 through 20.4. These ranges are vulnerable. Versions 19.5.5 and 20.5 or later are patched.
    Affected if Version is 19.5.4 or earlier, OR between 20.0 and 20.4 inclusive.
  4. Identify if the .indd file handling feature is in use
    This vulnerability triggers when opening a malicious .indd file. Check if users routinely open InDesign documents from external or untrusted sources.
    Affected if The vulnerability is only exploitable when a user opens a specially crafted malicious .indd file.

The system is affected if Adobe InDesign Desktop version 19.5.4 or earlier, or any version from 20.0 to 20.4, is installed and users may open .indd 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 19.5.5 / 20.5 or later
Fixed in 19.5.520.5
Interim mitigation

Update to the latest version of Adobe InDesign Desktop as released by Adobe. Avoid opening untrusted .indd files from unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

InDesign 19.5.5 or 20.5

  1. 1. Close any running instances of Adobe InDesign
  2. 2. Back up any important InDesign documents and settings
  3. 3. Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or navigate to helpx.adobe.com
  4. 4. Locate Adobe InDesign in the available updates
  5. 5. Click Update or Install to upgrade to version 19.5.5 (for 19.x users) or version 20.5 (for 20.x users)
  6. 6. Wait for the download and installation to complete
  7. 7. Restart your computer if prompted
  8. 8. Verify the installed version by opening InDesign and checking Help > About InDesign
Caveat Minor: Some legacy features or third-party plugins may have compatibility issues with the new version; test critical workflows before production deployment

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

Fix this in Indesign Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,220
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,952.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2025-54225 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