CVE-2024-20781: Adobe InDesign Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

CVE-2024-20781 Overview

CVE-2024-20781 is a Heap-based Buffer Overflow vulnerability affecting Adobe InDesign Desktop that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. This vulnerability requires user interaction, specifically that a victim must open a malicious file crafted to exploit the heap memory corruption flaw. The vulnerability affects multiple versions of Adobe InDesign on both Windows and macOS platforms.

Critical Impact

Successful exploitation allows attackers to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the current user, potentially leading to complete system compromise through a maliciously crafted InDesign document.

Affected Products

• Adobe InDesign Desktop ID19.3 and earlier
• Adobe InDesign Desktop ID18.5.2 and earlier
• Affected on both Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS platforms

Discovery Timeline

• 2024-07-09 - CVE-2024-20781 published to NVD
• 2024-11-21 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-20781

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as a Heap-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-122) and Out-of-Bounds Write (CWE-787). The flaw resides in how Adobe InDesign Desktop processes certain file content, leading to memory corruption in the heap region. When a user opens a specially crafted malicious file, the application fails to properly validate or restrict the amount of data written to a heap-allocated buffer, resulting in data being written beyond the intended memory boundaries.

The local attack vector requires user interaction, meaning an attacker must convince a target user to open a malicious InDesign document. Once the victim opens the malicious file, the heap buffer overflow can be triggered, allowing the attacker to overwrite critical memory structures and potentially redirect execution flow to attacker-controlled code.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2024-20781 is improper bounds checking when processing file content in Adobe InDesign Desktop. The application allocates a fixed-size buffer on the heap but does not adequately validate the size of incoming data before copying it into the buffer. This allows an attacker to craft a malicious file with oversized or malformed data that exceeds the buffer's capacity, corrupting adjacent heap memory and potentially overwriting critical data structures such as function pointers or object metadata.

Attack Vector

The attack vector for this vulnerability is local and requires user interaction. An attacker must deliver a malicious InDesign file (.indd, .indt, or related formats) to the victim through social engineering methods such as:

• Email attachments disguised as legitimate design documents
• Malicious files hosted on compromised or attacker-controlled websites
• Files shared through collaboration platforms or file-sharing services

When the victim opens the malicious file in a vulnerable version of Adobe InDesign Desktop, the heap-based buffer overflow is triggered during file parsing, enabling arbitrary code execution with the same privileges as the InDesign process.

The vulnerability mechanism involves malformed data structures within InDesign document files that, when parsed, cause the application to write data beyond allocated heap buffer boundaries. This can corrupt heap metadata, adjacent objects, or function pointers, ultimately allowing an attacker to gain control of program execution. For detailed technical information, refer to the Adobe InDesign Security Advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-20781

Indicators of Compromise

• Suspicious InDesign document files (.indd, .indt, .idml) received from unknown or untrusted sources
• Unexpected crashes or abnormal behavior in Adobe InDesign Desktop application
• Process memory anomalies or unusual heap allocation patterns in InDesign processes
• Adobe InDesign attempting to spawn unexpected child processes or execute system commands

Detection Strategies

• Monitor for InDesign process crashes followed by suspicious child process creation
• Implement file scanning solutions to detect malformed InDesign document structures
• Deploy endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to identify heap overflow exploitation attempts
• Use application control policies to restrict InDesign from executing unexpected binaries

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable crash reporting and analyze InDesign crash dumps for exploitation signatures
• Monitor network traffic for suspicious InDesign file downloads from untrusted domains
• Implement user behavior analytics to detect unusual document access patterns
• Configure security information and event management (SIEM) alerts for InDesign-related anomalies

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-20781

Immediate Actions Required

• Update Adobe InDesign Desktop to the latest patched version immediately
• Avoid opening InDesign documents from untrusted or unknown sources
• Implement security awareness training to educate users about malicious document attacks
• Configure email gateways to scan and quarantine suspicious InDesign file attachments

Patch Information

Adobe has released security updates to address this vulnerability as documented in security bulletin APSB24-48. Organizations should update Adobe InDesign Desktop to the latest available version that includes the fix for CVE-2024-20781. The patch information and download links are available through the Adobe InDesign Security Advisory.

For InDesign ID19.x installations, upgrade to versions newer than ID19.3. For InDesign ID18.x installations, upgrade to versions newer than ID18.5.2.

Workarounds

• Restrict InDesign file access to trusted sources only until patching is complete
• Implement application sandboxing or virtualization to isolate InDesign processing
• Use Adobe's Protected View or similar sandbox features if available for document previewing
• Disable automatic document opening from email clients and web browsers

# Verify Adobe InDesign version on Windows
# Check installed version through Help > About InDesign
# Or check registry key
reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\InDesign" /s | findstr "Version"

# On macOS, check application version
defaults read "/Applications/Adobe InDesign 2024/Adobe InDesign 2024.app/Contents/Info.plist" CFBundleShortVersionString