CVE-2025-27178 Overview
CVE-2025-27178 is an out-of-bounds write vulnerability [CWE-787] affecting Adobe InDesign Desktop versions ID20.1, ID19.5.2, and earlier. The flaw allows arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user when a victim opens a crafted InDesign file. Exploitation requires user interaction, limiting remote mass exploitation but enabling targeted phishing and supply-chain attacks against creative professionals. Adobe published the security advisory APSB25-19 addressing this issue.
Critical Impact
Successful exploitation results in arbitrary code execution under the privileges of the current user on both Windows and macOS systems.
Affected Products
- Adobe InDesign Desktop ID20.1 and earlier
- Adobe InDesign Desktop ID19.5.2 and earlier
- Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS platforms running affected InDesign versions
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-03-11 - CVE-2025-27178 published to NVD
- 2025-04-14 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-27178
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability is an out-of-bounds write classified under [CWE-787]. Adobe InDesign parses complex document file formats containing multiple embedded objects, fonts, and image resources. When the application processes a malformed document, internal length or offset fields can cause a write operation to extend beyond the intended buffer boundary. This corrupts adjacent heap memory and enables an attacker to influence program control flow.
The attack vector is local and requires user interaction. A victim must open a malicious .indd or related InDesign file delivered through email, web download, or shared project storage. Once corruption occurs during file parsing, attacker-controlled data can overwrite function pointers, vtables, or other structured heap metadata. Code execution proceeds with the privileges of the logged-in user, which is typically a standard non-administrative account on managed workstations.
The epssScore of 0.08% reflects low observed exploitation activity, but the impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability is high.
Root Cause
The root cause is insufficient bounds validation during parsing of structured document data. Length values supplied within the input file are trusted without proper sanity checking against the destination buffer size, allowing the parser to write past the allocated region.
Attack Vector
Delivery typically occurs through social engineering. An attacker sends a crafted InDesign document to a designer, publisher, or marketing user. When the file is opened in a vulnerable version of InDesign, the parser triggers the out-of-bounds write and executes embedded shellcode or hijacks control flow.
No verified public proof-of-concept code is available. The vulnerability is described in prose because no realCodeExamples were provided. See the Adobe Security Advisory APSB25-19 for vendor-supplied technical context.
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-27178
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected child processes spawned by InDesign.exe on Windows or the Adobe InDesign process on macOS, particularly shells, scripting interpreters, or rundll32.exe.
- InDesign process crashes or Watson/Apple crash reports referencing access violations during file open operations.
- Inbound .indd, .indt, or .idml files received from untrusted senders or downloaded from unverified locations.
Detection Strategies
- Monitor for InDesign processes performing network connections, file writes outside user document directories, or process injection behavior.
- Apply behavioral analytics to flag memory corruption patterns such as heap manipulation followed by execution from non-image memory regions.
- Correlate document open events with subsequent suspicious process creation to identify exploit chains.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enable endpoint logging for process creation, image loads, and command-line arguments on all workstations running Adobe Creative Cloud.
- Track Adobe InDesign version inventory across the fleet to identify hosts still on ID20.1 or ID19.5.2 and earlier.
- Alert on InDesign loading unusual DLLs or dylibs from user-writable directories.
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-27178
Immediate Actions Required
- Update Adobe InDesign to the fixed versions listed in APSB25-19 on all Windows and macOS endpoints.
- Block delivery of InDesign document attachments from external senders at the email gateway until patching is complete.
- Restrict standard users from opening InDesign files originating outside trusted project repositories.
Patch Information
Adobe released fixes documented in security bulletin APSB25-19. Administrators should deploy the updated versions through Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop or enterprise deployment tooling. Refer to the Adobe Security Advisory for the exact fixed build numbers.
Workarounds
- Open untrusted InDesign documents only in an isolated virtual machine or sandboxed environment until patches are applied.
- Enforce application allowlisting to prevent InDesign from spawning interpreters such as cmd.exe, powershell.exe, or /bin/sh.
- Apply operating system exploit mitigations including Data Execution Prevention and Address Space Layout Randomization, and verify they are enforced for the InDesign process.
# Example: query installed InDesign version on macOS
mdls -name kMDItemVersion "/Applications/Adobe InDesign 2024/Adobe InDesign 2024.app"
# Example: query installed InDesign version on Windows (PowerShell)
Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*" | Where-Object { $_.DisplayName -like "*InDesign*" } | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
