dbcve.org
IndesignApplication · Adobe

CVE-2026-34697

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-06-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 20.5.4 / 21.4 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 21.3, 20.5.3 and earlier are affected by a Stack-based Buffer Overflow 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 confidence

Adobe InDesign Desktop versions 21.3, 20.5.3 and earlier contain a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability that allows arbitrary code execution when a user opens a specially crafted malicious file. The flaw exists in the application's file parsing logic, where insufficient bounds checking on stack-allocated buffers permits overflow into adjacent memory, enabling an attacker to overwrite return addresses and achieve code execution within the current user's context.

MitigationApply the vendor security patch released by Adobe for InDesign. Until patched, instruct users not to open untrusted InDesign files (.indd, .idml) from unknown sources. Consider deploying additional email/endpoint detection controls to identify malicious file attachments.

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:< 20.5.4>= 21.0, < 21.4

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
    Check for InDesign installation by looking in typical application directories (Windows: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign, macOS: /Applications/Adobe InDesign) or using system inventory tools
    Affected if InDesign is installed on the system
  2. Identify installed InDesign version
    Open InDesign and go to Help > About InDesign, or check the version in the application properties. On Windows, you can also check the executable properties of ID.exe. On macOS, right-click Adobe InDesign.app > Get Info to see the version number.
    Affected if Version cannot be determined or the application is not found
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    The affected versions are: 20.5.3 and earlier, and 21.0 through 21.3. Compare your installed version number to these ranges. Versions below 20.5.4 or between 21.0 and 21.3 (inclusive) are affected.
    Affected if Installed version is 20.5.3 or earlier, OR installed version is 21.0, 21.1, 21.2, or 21.3

You are affected if Adobe InDesign Desktop is installed and the version is 20.5.3/earlier or 21.0-21.3; versions 20.5.4 and 21.4 or later are patched.

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 20.5.4 / 21.4 or later
Fixed in 20.5.421.4
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor security patch released by Adobe for InDesign. Until patched, instruct users not to open untrusted InDesign files (.indd, .idml) from unknown sources. Consider deploying additional email/endpoint detection controls to identify malicious file attachments.

Recommended fix High confidence

InDesign 20.5.4 or later for 20.x branch; InDesign 21.4 or later for 21.x branch

  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 applications list
  5. 5. Check for available updates and install the latest version
  6. 6. For version 20.x users: Upgrade to InDesign version 20.5.4 or later
  7. 7. For version 21.x users: Upgrade to InDesign version 21.4 or later
  8. 8. Restart your computer after the update completes
Caveat Adobe updates typically include backward compatibility for .indd files, but test critical workflows with the new version before full deployment in production environments

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

Fix this in Indesign Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,360
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,176.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-34697 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2026-34697 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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