CVE-2026-27286
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 20.5.2, 21.2 and earlier are affected by a Heap-based Buffer Overflow vulnerability that could lead to memory exposure. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to disclose sensitive information stored in 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 · high confidenceAdobe InDesign Desktop versions 20.5.2, 21.2 and earlier contain a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability that can be triggered when a user opens a specially crafted malicious file. Successful exploitation allows an attacker to read sensitive data from memory due to the buffer overflow condition.
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< 20.5.3>= 21.0, <= 21.3CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Locate installed InDesign versionOpen InDesign and go to Help > About InDesign (Windows) or InDesign > About InDesign (macOS), or check the Windows registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\InDesign\Version, or view the application in Applications folder via Get Info on macOSAffected if Unable to retrieve the installed version number
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Compare version against affected rangeCompare the installed version number to the vulnerable ranges: version 20.x less than 20.5.3, or version 21.x between 21.0 and 21.3 inclusiveAffected if Installed version is 20.5.2 or earlier in the 20.x line, OR installed version is 21.0, 21.1, 21.2, or 21.3 in the 21.x line
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Assess file handling exposureDetermine whether the InDesign installation is used to open files from external or untrusted sources, as the vulnerability is triggered only when a specially crafted malicious file is openedAffected if Users routinely open InDesign files from untrusted or unknown sources
User is affected if their installed InDesign version is 20.5.2 or earlier (20.x line) OR between 21.0 and 21.3 inclusive (21.x line).
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 · scoped20.5.3
Apply the vendor security patch from Adobe to update InDesign to a version beyond the affected releases. Users should avoid opening files from untrusted sources until the patch is applied.
InDesign 20.5.3 or later (20.x line); InDesign 21.4 or later (21.x line)
- 1. Close any running instances of Adobe InDesign
- 2. Back up any important InDesign documents and preferences
- 3. Open Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or navigate to https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/release-note/indesign-release-notes.html
- 4. Locate InDesign in your installed applications
- 5. Click Update or Install to apply the latest version
- 6. Alternatively, download the fixed version directly from Adobe's official download page
- 7. Restart InDesign after the update completes
- 8. Verify the installed version by going to Help > About InDesign
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-27286 — 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-2026-27286 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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- 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