CVE-2025-54226
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 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 · high confidenceInDesign Desktop versions 20.4, 19.5.4 and earlier contain a Use After Free vulnerability where memory is accessed after it has been freed, allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary code. The attack requires a user to open a maliciously crafted InDesign file.
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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Check installed InDesign versionOpen Adobe InDesign, then go to Help > About Adobe InDesign (or on macOS, InDesign > About InDesign). The version number is displayed in the dialog. Alternatively, check the version in the Creative Cloud desktop app under the Installed apps section.Affected if The version shown is 19.5.4 or earlier, or is 20.0 through 20.4 (versions < 19.5.5 or >= 20.0 and < 20.5)
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Confirm InDesign Desktop editionVerify that the installed product is Adobe InDesign Desktop (not InDesign Server). The Desktop edition is affected; InDesign Server has separate versioning and may not be vulnerable to this specific issue.Affected if The product is InDesign Desktop and the version falls within the affected ranges
You are affected if Adobe InDesign Desktop is installed and the version is 19.5.4/earlier or 20.0-20.4 (i.e., versions before 19.5.5 or before 20.5).
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
Apply the vendor patch from Adobe (version 20.5 or later) and restrict users from opening untrusted InDesign files until the update is deployed.
InDesign 19.5.5 (for 19.x branch) or InDesign 20.5 (for 20.x branch)
- Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or visit adobe.com/downloads
- Navigate to InDesign product page or check for updates within the Creative Cloud app
- Locate InDesign and click Update or Install to get version 19.5.5 (for 19.x branch users) or version 20.5 (for 20.x branch users)
- Alternatively, manually download the fixed version from helpx.adobe.com by searching for InDesign version 19.5.5 or 20.5 release notes
- Launch Adobe InDesign after update completes
- Verify the installed version by going to Help > About InDesign to confirm version 19.5.5 or 20.5 is running
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-54226 — 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-2025-54226 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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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