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IndesignApplication · Adobe

CVE-2025-61815

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-11-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 20.5.1 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 20.5, 19.5.5 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

A Use After Free vulnerability in Adobe InDesign Desktop allows arbitrary code execution when a victim opens a malicious .indd file. The vulnerability stems from improper memory management where memory is accessed after being freed, potentially allowing an attacker to control execution flow.

MitigationUpgrade InDesign to version 20.5.1/19.5.6 or later via Adobe's update mechanism, and avoid opening InDesign documents 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, < 20.5.1

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 InDesign installation
    Check if Adobe InDesign is installed on the system by looking for the InDesign executable (InDesign.exe) in typical installation paths such as C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign 2024\ or C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign 2025\, or by querying the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall for Adobe InDesign entries.
    Affected if InDesign is not installed on the system.
  2. Determine installed InDesign version
    Locate the InDesign executable and right-click to view Properties, then check the Details tab for the Product Version, or query the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\InDesign\InstallVersion (adjust path based on installed version) to retrieve the installed version number.
    Affected if Unable to retrieve a version number from the installed InDesign instance.
  3. Compare version against CVE-affected ranges
    Compare your installed version number to the affected ranges: version 19.x up to and including 19.5.5, OR version 20.x up to but not including 20.5.1. The affected version format appears to be major.minor.patch (e.g., 20.5.0, 19.5.5).
    Affected if The installed version falls within <= 19.5.5 OR >= 20.0 AND < 20.5.1.
  4. Assess exposure to malicious .indd files
    Determine if the system or its users routinely open .indd files from external or untrusted sources, as the vulnerability is triggered when opening a specially crafted malicious .indd file.
    Affected if Users routinely open .indd files from unknown or untrusted sources without prior validation.

You are affected if Adobe InDesign is installed with a version number matching <= 19.5.5 or >= 20.0 but < 20.5.1, and users open .indd files on the system.

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 20.5.1 or later
Fixed in 20.5.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade InDesign to version 20.5.1/19.5.6 or later via Adobe's update mechanism, and avoid opening InDesign documents from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe InDesign 20.5.1 or later

  1. 1. Close Adobe InDesign if it is currently running.
  2. 2. Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or navigate to the Adobe InDesign download page.
  3. 3. Locate Adobe InDesign in your installed applications.
  4. 4. Check the current version by opening InDesign and going to Help > About InDesign.
  5. 5. If the version is 20.5 or earlier (including 19.5.5 and earlier), initiate an update or download the latest version from Adobe's website.
  6. 6. Download and install Adobe InDesign version 20.5.1 or later.
  7. 7. Restart your computer after installation completes.
  8. 8. Verify the installed version by checking Help > About InDesign to confirm the version is 20.5.1 or higher.

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

Fix this in Indesign Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
Get the upgrade done

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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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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-2025-61815 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