CVE-2025-30320 Overview
CVE-2025-30320 is a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability [CWE-476] affecting Adobe InDesign Desktop versions ID19.5.2, ID20.2, and earlier. The flaw allows a local attacker to crash the application and cause a denial-of-service condition when a victim opens a malicious file. Exploitation requires user interaction, limiting the attack to scenarios where a user is tricked into opening a crafted document. Adobe published a security advisory and patched versions on May 13, 2025. The vulnerability affects InDesign installations on both Apple macOS and Microsoft Windows platforms.
Critical Impact
Successful exploitation terminates the InDesign process, resulting in loss of unsaved work and disruption to document production workflows.
Affected Products
- Adobe InDesign Desktop ID19.5.2 and earlier
- Adobe InDesign Desktop ID20.2 and earlier
- Deployed on Apple macOS and Microsoft Windows
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-05-13 - Adobe releases security bulletin APSB25-37
- 2025-05-13 - CVE-2025-30320 published to NVD
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-30320
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability is categorized as a NULL pointer dereference [CWE-476] within the InDesign Desktop file-parsing logic. When InDesign processes a specifically crafted document, the application dereferences a pointer that was never initialized or that returned NULL from a prior allocation or lookup. The dereference triggers an access violation that terminates the application. The impact is confined to availability. Confidentiality and integrity are not affected, and the vulnerability does not provide a path to code execution according to the Adobe advisory.
Root Cause
The root cause is missing validation of a pointer returned during parsing of document data structures. InDesign assumes the pointer references a valid object and proceeds to access its members. When the pointer is NULL, the resulting memory access raises a fault that the application does not handle gracefully. The behavior aligns with CWE-476 patterns where object lookups, allocations, or decoding routines return NULL on malformed input without a corresponding check.
Attack Vector
The attack vector is local and requires user interaction. An attacker must deliver a malicious InDesign document to the victim through email, file sharing, or a web download. The victim must then open the file in a vulnerable version of InDesign. No elevated privileges are required on the target system. The resulting denial-of-service affects only the InDesign process and does not persist beyond process termination. Repeated exploitation against the same user could disrupt production work on InDesign projects.
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-30320
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected crashes of InDesign.exe (Windows) or the InDesign application process (macOS) immediately after opening a document from an untrusted source
- Operating system crash reports or Windows Error Reporting entries referencing an access violation in InDesign modules
- Receipt of unsolicited .indd, .idml, or related InDesign documents from unknown senders
Detection Strategies
- Collect and correlate application crash telemetry from endpoints running InDesign to identify clusters of failures tied to specific documents
- Hunt for inbound email attachments and downloaded files with InDesign-associated extensions originating from untrusted sources
- Monitor file system and process telemetry for InDesign processes that terminate abnormally shortly after file-open events
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enable endpoint logging for application crash events and ingest them into a centralized analytics platform for review
- Track InDesign version inventory across managed workstations to identify systems still running ID19.5.2, ID20.2, or earlier
- Alert on repeated InDesign crashes on the same host within a short time window, which may indicate active exploitation attempts
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-30320
Immediate Actions Required
- Upgrade Adobe InDesign Desktop to the fixed versions identified in Adobe security bulletin APSB25-37
- Inventory all workstations running InDesign and prioritize patching for users who regularly handle externally sourced documents
- Instruct users not to open InDesign files received from unknown or untrusted sources until patches are applied
Patch Information
Adobe addressed CVE-2025-30320 in the security update documented in Adobe InDesign Security Advisory APSB25-37. Administrators should deploy the updates through the Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or through enterprise deployment tooling. Verify installed build numbers after patching to confirm that affected versions ID19.5.2 and ID20.2 are no longer present.
Workarounds
- Restrict opening of InDesign documents to files originating from trusted internal sources until the patch is deployed
- Use file reputation and attachment scanning on email gateways to isolate InDesign documents from unverified senders
- Enable automatic recovery and frequent autosave settings in InDesign to minimize work loss if an exploitation attempt crashes the application
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
