CVE-2025-21167: Adobe Substance 3D Designer Info Leak Flaw

CVE-2025-21167 Overview

CVE-2025-21167 is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability affecting Adobe Substance 3D Designer versions 14.1 and earlier. The flaw allows an attacker to read sensitive memory contents outside the intended buffer boundary. Attackers can leverage the disclosed memory to bypass mitigations such as Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR). Exploitation requires user interaction because a victim must open a malicious file crafted by the attacker. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-125 (Out-of-Bounds Read) and Adobe addressed it in security bulletin APSB25-62.

Critical Impact
Successful exploitation discloses process memory that can defeat ASLR and enable more reliable follow-on exploitation of memory corruption bugs.

Affected Products

Adobe Substance 3D Designer 14.1
Adobe Substance 3D Designer versions earlier than 14.1
Windows and macOS installations of Substance 3D Designer

Discovery Timeline

2025-07-08 - CVE-2025-21167 published to the National Vulnerability Database
2026-06-17 - Last updated in the NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-21167

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is an out-of-bounds read in Adobe Substance 3D Designer's file parsing logic. When the application processes a specially crafted asset or project file, it reads memory beyond the bounds of an allocated buffer. The returned data can contain heap addresses, stack pointers, or module base addresses. An attacker uses this leaked information to calculate the runtime layout of loaded modules. This defeats ASLR and provides a foundation for chaining a second vulnerability into code execution. The attack requires local access and user interaction, and it does not by itself modify data or crash the process.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing or incorrect bounds validation during parsing of untrusted file content. The parser trusts a size or offset field embedded in the input file and reads past the end of the allocated buffer without verifying against the actual buffer length, matching the pattern described by CWE-125.

Attack Vector

Exploitation follows a file-based social engineering pattern. An attacker distributes a malicious Substance 3D Designer project or asset file through email, a shared drive, an artist marketplace, or a compromised asset pack. The victim opens the file in a vulnerable version of Substance 3D Designer. Parsing triggers the out-of-bounds read, and the leaked memory can be relayed back to the attacker when the file format supports embedded scripting or when paired with a companion write primitive.

No public proof-of-concept exploit is available for CVE-2025-21167, and it is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Refer to the Adobe Security Bulletin APSB25-62 for vendor technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-21167

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected Substance 3D Designer crashes or hangs immediately after opening a project, .sbs, or .sbsar file from an untrusted source
Substance 3D Designer processes spawning unusual child processes or making outbound network connections shortly after loading a file
Substance 3D Designer versions at or below 14.1 present on artist or engineering workstations

Detection Strategies

Inventory endpoints for installed Substance 3D Designer versions and flag any build at or below 14.1 for remediation
Alert on Substance 3D Designer opening files from browser download directories, email attachment paths, or removable media
Correlate application crash telemetry (Windows Error Reporting, macOS CrashReporter) with recent file open events to surface exploitation attempts

Monitoring Recommendations

Ingest endpoint process telemetry into a centralized data lake for retrospective hunting across creative workstations
Monitor for anomalous memory access patterns and unexpected DLL or dylib loads within the Substance 3D Designer process
Track file provenance for .sbs, .sbsar, and related Substance formats received from external collaborators and asset marketplaces

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-21167

Immediate Actions Required

Upgrade Adobe Substance 3D Designer to the fixed release identified in Adobe Security Bulletin APSB25-62
Restrict opening of Substance 3D Designer files to those received through trusted internal pipelines and vetted asset sources
Communicate the risk to 3D artists and technical art teams, who are the primary user population for this software

Patch Information

Adobe released a patched version of Substance 3D Designer as part of security bulletin APSB25-62. Administrators should deploy the vendor-supplied update to all workstations running version 14.1 or earlier. Consult the Adobe Security Bulletin APSB25-62 for the exact fixed version and download instructions.

Workarounds

Do not open Substance 3D Designer project files from untrusted email attachments, forums, or file-sharing sites until the patch is applied
Isolate creative workstations that cannot be patched immediately onto a segmented network with limited outbound connectivity
Enforce application allowlisting and standard user privileges so that a chained exploit has reduced impact on the host

bash

# Example: enumerate installed Substance 3D Designer versions on Windows endpoints
Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*" |
  Where-Object { $_.DisplayName -like "*Substance 3D Designer*" } |
  Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion, InstallLocation