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IndesignApplication · Adobe

CVE-2026-34702

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

InDesign Desktop versions 21.3, 20.5.3 and earlier contain a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability. When a user opens a specially crafted malicious file, the overflow allows arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the current user.

MitigationUpdate InDesign to version 21.4, 20.5.4, or later. Do not open InDesign files from untrusted or unknown 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:< 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: On Windows, open Control Panel > Programs and Features and look for 'Adobe InDesign' in the list, or run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like "*InDesign*"}' in PowerShell to query the registry.
    Affected if Adobe InDesign is not installed on the system, then the vulnerability does not apply.
  2. Determine installed InDesign version
    Within InDesign, go to Help > About Adobe InDesign to display the version number. Alternatively, on Windows PowerShell, run: (Get-ItemProperty 'C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign*\ID.exe' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).VersionInfo.FileVersion
    Affected if The installed version falls within the affected ranges: version less than 20.5.4, or version 21.0 through 21.3 inclusive.
  3. Confirm .indd file handling capability
    Verify the system can process .indd files by checking file association: Run 'assoc .indd' in Command Prompt or check registry key HKCR\.indd to see the associated file type handler.
    Affected if The .indd file type is associated with Adobe InDesign, meaning the application can be triggered to parse these files and the vulnerability is reachable.
  4. Assess user privilege context
    Open Command Prompt and run 'whoami /groups' to see current user group memberships, or check if running as a standard user versus an administrator.
    Affected if The vulnerability allows code execution with the same privileges as the current user; running as an administrator means the attacker gains administrative control.

The system is affected if Adobe InDesign is installed with a version less than 20.5.4 or between 21.0 and 21.3 inclusive, and the system processes .indd files.

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

Update InDesign to version 21.4, 20.5.4, or later. Do not open InDesign files from untrusted or unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

InDesign 20.5.4 or 21.4 (depending on your licensing branch)

  1. Navigate to the official Adobe InDesign download page or Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application
  2. Download InDesign version 20.5.4 (if currently on 20.x branch) or version 21.4 (if currently on 21.x branch)
  3. Close all running Adobe applications
  4. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete the update
  5. Restart your computer after installation to ensure all components are properly updated
  6. Verify the installed version by opening InDesign and checking Help > About Adobe InDesign
Caveat Standard upgrade caveats apply - verify plugin compatibility and save backups of important work before updating

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

Fix this in Indesign Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.

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-2026-34702 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