CVE-2025-54219: Adobe InCopy Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

CVE-2025-54219 Overview

CVE-2025-54219 is a heap-based buffer overflow [CWE-122] affecting Adobe InCopy versions 20.4, 19.5.4, and earlier on Windows and macOS. Successful exploitation results in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. The attack requires local access and user interaction: a victim must open a crafted malicious file. Adobe published the fix in security advisory APSB25-80.

Critical Impact
An attacker who convinces a user to open a malicious InCopy document can execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the current user, enabling malware installation, data theft, or lateral movement.

Affected Products

Adobe InCopy 20.4 and earlier (20.x branch)
Adobe InCopy 19.5.4 and earlier (19.x branch)
Deployments on Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS

Discovery Timeline

2025-08-12 - CVE-2025-54219 published to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
2025-08-12 - Adobe published security advisory APSB25-80
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-54219

Vulnerability Analysis

CVE-2025-54219 is a heap-based buffer overflow in Adobe InCopy's file parsing logic. When InCopy processes a malformed document, the application writes data past the bounds of a heap-allocated buffer. This corrupts adjacent heap metadata and object structures. An attacker who controls the overflowing content can steer program flow to attacker-supplied code, achieving arbitrary code execution in the user's security context.

Because the attack vector is local and requires user interaction, exploitation typically arrives through phishing, malicious downloads, or shared project files. The EPSS score for this issue is 0.289%, reflecting no observed in-the-wild exploitation to date. The vulnerability is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper validation of length or size fields during parsing of an untrusted document format. InCopy allocates a heap buffer sized from data in the input file, then writes attacker-controlled bytes without enforcing bounds. This is the classic CWE-122 pattern documented in the Adobe advisory. Refer to the Adobe Security Advisory APSB25-80 for vendor-supplied technical details.

Attack Vector

An attacker crafts a malicious InCopy file (.icml, .incx, or related format) containing structures that trigger the overflow. The attacker delivers the file via email, cloud storage, shared drives, or a compromised website. When the victim opens the file in a vulnerable InCopy version, the parser corrupts the heap and the attacker's payload executes with the user's privileges.

No public proof-of-concept exploit is available. See the vendor advisory for technical remediation details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-54219

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected child processes spawned by InCopy.exe (Windows) or the InCopy process (macOS), particularly shells, scripting hosts, or rundll32.exe.
InCopy processes performing outbound network connections to unknown hosts shortly after opening a document.
InCopy writing executable files (.exe, .dll, .dylib, .scpt) into user-writable directories.
Crash dumps or Windows Error Reporting entries referencing heap corruption inside InCopy modules.

Detection Strategies

Monitor process lineage for InCopy spawning cmd.exe, powershell.exe, wscript.exe, bash, or osascript.
Alert on InCopy modifying files outside its normal working directories, including startup and autorun locations.
Correlate opening of InCopy documents received via email or downloaded from the internet with subsequent anomalous process activity.

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable command-line and process-creation logging (Windows Event ID 4688, Sysmon Event ID 1, macOS Endpoint Security).
Track InCopy version telemetry across managed endpoints to identify unpatched hosts.
Ingest EDR telemetry into a SIEM and build queries for InCopy anomalous child processes and outbound connections.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-54219

Immediate Actions Required

Upgrade Adobe InCopy to the fixed builds listed in APSB25-80 on all Windows and macOS endpoints.
Inventory installations using software asset management and prioritize workstations belonging to editorial, publishing, and creative teams.
Instruct users not to open InCopy files received from untrusted sources until patching completes.

Patch Information

Adobe released fixed versions in security bulletin APSB25-80 on 2025-08-12. Administrators should deploy the update via the Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application or the Admin Console for enterprise deployments. Full remediation details are available in the Adobe Security Advisory APSB25-80.

Workarounds

Restrict opening of InCopy documents originating from email attachments or external file shares until patches are applied.
Apply Windows Mark-of-the-Web enforcement and macOS Gatekeeper controls so downloaded documents are treated as untrusted.
Run InCopy under standard user accounts rather than administrative accounts to limit blast radius.
Use application allowlisting to block execution of processes spawned by InCopy that are not part of normal workflows.

bash

# Verify installed InCopy version on macOS
mdls -name kMDItemVersion "/Applications/Adobe InCopy 2024/Adobe InCopy 2024.app"

# Verify installed InCopy version on Windows (PowerShell)
Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*" |
  Where-Object { $_.DisplayName -like "Adobe InCopy*" } |
  Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion