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IndesignApplication · Adobe

CVE-2025-54227

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 19.5.5 / 20.5 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. 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 an out-of-bounds read vulnerability. When a user opens a maliciously crafted file, the application reads memory beyond allocated buffer boundaries, potentially exposing sensitive memory contents to an attacker. This memory disclosure could include heap metadata, application secrets, or other process memory data.

MitigationUpdate InDesign Desktop to the patched version as specified in the Adobe security bulletin. Additionally, enforce user training to avoid opening files from untrusted or unknown sources, as exploitation requires user interaction.

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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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. Confirm Adobe InDesign is installed
    Check for InDesign installation on Windows via Registry key 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\InDesign.exe' or look in 'C:\Program Files\Adobe\' for InDesign folders. On macOS, check '/Applications/' for Adobe InDesign.
    Affected if InDesign is not found on the system, the system is not affected by this vulnerability.
  2. Identify installed InDesign version
    Open Windows Registry and navigate to the InDesign App Paths key to find the version in the path (e.g., 'Adobe InDesign CC 2024'), or run the application and go to Help > About Adobe InDesign to see the exact version number.
    Affected if Unable to determine the version indicates InDesign may not be properly installed.
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    Note the full version number (for example, 19.5.4, 20.4, etc.) and compare: if version is 19.x and less than 19.5.5, it is affected; if version is 20.x and between 20.0 and 20.4, it is affected.
    Affected if Version is 19.5.4 or earlier, OR version is 20.0 through 20.4, indicating the installed version falls within the vulnerable range.
  4. Determine if users open external files
    Review whether InDesign users routinely open files from external or untrusted sources, as exploitation requires a user to open a maliciously crafted file.
    Affected if Users routinely open InDesign files from untrusted or unknown sources increases the likelihood of successful exploitation.

The system is affected if Adobe InDesign Desktop versions 19.5.4 or earlier, or versions 20.0 through 20.4, are installed 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 19.5.5 / 20.5 or later
Fixed in 19.5.520.5
Interim mitigation

Update InDesign Desktop to the patched version as specified in the Adobe security bulletin. Additionally, enforce user training to avoid opening files from untrusted or unknown sources, as exploitation requires user interaction.

Recommended fix High confidence

InDesign 19.5.5 or 20.5 (and later releases)

  1. Check the current InDesign version by opening InDesign and navigating to Help > About InDesign
  2. Close InDesign and any Adobe applications running on the system
  3. Navigate to the official Adobe support page at helpx.adobe.com or use the Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application
  4. Download InDesign version 19.5.5 (for versions 19.x) or version 20.5 or later (for versions 20.x)
  5. Run the installer and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the upgrade
  6. Restart the computer after installation completes
  7. Launch InDesign and verify the version by checking Help > About InDesign to confirm the update was successful
Caveat Adobe security updates typically include bug fixes and stability improvements; review Adobe's release notes for any functionality changes specific to your version

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

Fix this in Indesign Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

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-2025-54227 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