CVE-2025-27170: Adobe Illustrator DOS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-27170 Overview

CVE-2025-27170 is a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability [CWE-476] in Adobe Illustrator. The flaw affects Illustrator versions 29.2.1, 28.7.4, and earlier releases on Windows and macOS. An attacker can trigger an application crash by convincing a victim to open a crafted file, resulting in a denial-of-service condition. Exploitation requires local user interaction and does not expose confidentiality or integrity of data. Adobe published fixed releases and a corresponding advisory under bulletin APSB25-17.

Critical Impact
Successful exploitation crashes Adobe Illustrator, interrupting designer workflows and potentially causing loss of unsaved work on affected endpoints.

Affected Products

Adobe Illustrator 29.2.1 and earlier (2025 release line)
Adobe Illustrator 28.7.4 and earlier (2024 release line)
Deployments on Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS

Discovery Timeline

2025-03-11 - CVE-2025-27170 published to the National Vulnerability Database
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-27170

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is a NULL pointer dereference triggered during the parsing of a malicious file in Adobe Illustrator. When Illustrator processes the malformed input, a code path dereferences a pointer that was never initialized or that returned NULL from a prior allocation or lookup call. The resulting access violation terminates the Illustrator process.

The impact is limited to availability. The attacker gains no control over execution flow, no memory disclosure, and no modification of files on disk. Loss of productivity and loss of unsaved design assets are the primary business concerns, particularly in creative production environments where Illustrator is a daily tool.

Adobe addressed the issue in the updates listed in advisory APSB25-17. See the Adobe Illustrator Security Update for the specific fixed builds.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing validation of a pointer value before dereference in a file-parsing routine. Illustrator consumes complex vector and metadata structures from source files, and one of these parsing branches assumes a non-NULL object reference without a defensive check. When a crafted file produces an unexpected object state, the pointer remains NULL, and the subsequent dereference faults.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is local and requires user interaction. An attacker delivers a malicious Illustrator-compatible file through email, a shared drive, a cloud storage link, or a compromised asset repository. The victim must open the file in Illustrator to trigger the crash. There is no network-reachable component, and no elevated privileges are required by the attacker.

No verified proof-of-concept code is publicly available at the time of writing. See the vendor advisory for additional technical context.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-27170

Indicators of Compromise

Repeated unexpected termination of Illustrator.exe on Windows or the Adobe Illustrator process on macOS shortly after a file open event.
Windows Application event log entries referencing an access violation (0xC0000005) in the Illustrator process.
macOS crash reports under ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ naming Adobe Illustrator with a EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV) signal.
Delivery of Illustrator source files (.ai, .ait, .eps, .svg) from untrusted senders or external shares immediately preceding a crash.

Detection Strategies

Correlate process-termination telemetry with the parent file-open activity to identify crash chains tied to specific documents.
Hunt for Illustrator processes exiting with an exception within seconds of a user double-click or shell-open event on a design file.
Track distribution of newly delivered Illustrator files across endpoints to spot a single malicious asset triggering crashes on multiple hosts.

Monitoring Recommendations

Collect endpoint process and crash telemetry from workstations running Illustrator and forward to a centralized data lake for correlation.
Alert on clusters of Illustrator crashes across users or hosts within short time windows, which may indicate a weaponized file in circulation.
Monitor file-sharing platforms and email gateways for Illustrator-compatible attachments originating from unverified external senders.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-27170

Immediate Actions Required

Upgrade Adobe Illustrator to the fixed versions published in advisory APSB25-17 on all Windows and macOS endpoints.
Inventory endpoints with Creative Cloud and confirm Illustrator auto-update is enabled or push updates through enterprise deployment tooling.
Instruct design teams to avoid opening Illustrator files from unknown or unverified sources until patching is complete.

Patch Information

Adobe released fixed builds of Illustrator 2025 and Illustrator 2024 that remediate CVE-2025-27170. Refer to the Adobe Illustrator Security Update for the exact fixed version numbers and download instructions through the Creative Cloud Desktop application or the Adobe Admin Console.

Workarounds

Open suspicious Illustrator files only in an isolated virtual machine or sandbox until the host is patched.
Restrict receipt of Illustrator file types at the email gateway for users who do not require them as a business function.
Enforce least-privilege file-sharing permissions on shared creative asset repositories to reduce the pool of users who can introduce malicious files.

bash

# Enterprise deployment example: query installed Illustrator version on Windows
Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*" |
  Where-Object { $_.DisplayName -like "Adobe Illustrator*" } |
  Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion, InstallLocation

# macOS equivalent
mdls -name kMDItemVersion "/Applications/Adobe Illustrator 2025/Adobe Illustrator.app"