CVE-2025-54220: Adobe InCopy Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

CVE-2025-54220 Overview

CVE-2025-54220 is a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability [CWE-122] in Adobe InCopy versions 20.4, 19.5.4, and earlier. An attacker who convinces a user to open a crafted document can execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user. The flaw affects both Windows and macOS installations of the product. Exploitation requires user interaction, which limits mass exploitation but remains practical through phishing or supply chain document delivery. Adobe published fixes in security advisory APSB25-80 on August 12, 2025.

Critical Impact
Successful exploitation allows arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the user running InCopy, enabling full compromise of the user session.

Affected Products

Adobe InCopy 20.4 and earlier
Adobe InCopy 19.5.4 and earlier
Windows and macOS installations of the affected versions

Discovery Timeline

2025-08-12 - CVE-2025-54220 published to NVD and Adobe releases security advisory APSB25-80
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-54220

Vulnerability Analysis

CVE-2025-54220 is a heap-based buffer overflow in the file parsing logic of Adobe InCopy. When InCopy processes a malformed document, the application writes beyond the bounds of a heap-allocated buffer. The overflow corrupts adjacent heap metadata or object pointers used by the application. An attacker who controls the overflowing data can influence program control flow and achieve arbitrary code execution.

The vulnerability executes code with the privileges of the local user. On workstations where users routinely operate with administrative rights, this exposes the underlying operating system to further post-exploitation activity. Confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts are all high because the attacker gains full control of the user context.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper validation of size or length fields during parsing of a structured document format handled by InCopy. The parser allocates a heap buffer based on assumptions about input structure and then copies attacker-controlled data past the allocation boundary. This maps to CWE-122 (Heap-based Buffer Overflow). Adobe has not published low-level technical details about the specific file format element responsible.

Attack Vector

The attack requires local file handling and user interaction. A victim must open a malicious .icml, .indd, or related InCopy document delivered through email, chat, shared storage, or a web download. Once the document is opened, parsing triggers the overflow without further clicks. The attack does not require prior authentication or elevated privileges on the target host. See the Adobe Security Advisory APSB25-80 for vendor guidance.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-54220

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected child processes spawned by InCopy.exe on Windows or the Adobe InCopy process on macOS, especially shells, script interpreters, or rundll32.exe.
InCopy process crashes with heap corruption exceptions correlated with recently opened documents from external sources.
InCopy documents arriving from untrusted email senders or downloaded from unknown web origins immediately before anomalous endpoint activity.

Detection Strategies

Monitor for process lineage where InCopy is the parent of interactive shells, powershell.exe, cmd.exe, wscript.exe, osascript, or /bin/sh.
Alert on unsigned or newly written binaries executed shortly after InCopy launches a document from a user download or mail directory.
Correlate Windows Error Reporting or macOS crash telemetry from InCopy with subsequent outbound network connections from the same host.

Monitoring Recommendations

Inventory endpoints running InCopy 20.4, 19.5.4, or earlier and track patch state until remediation is confirmed.
Capture command-line and process tree telemetry from creative workstations, which are often excluded from strict endpoint policies.
Track document ingestion paths from mail gateways and cloud storage to identify potential delivery vectors of malicious InCopy files.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-54220

Immediate Actions Required

Update Adobe InCopy to the fixed versions listed in Adobe advisory APSB25-80 on all Windows and macOS endpoints.
Block or quarantine InCopy documents arriving from external senders until patching is complete across the fleet.
Instruct users to open InCopy files only from trusted internal sources during the remediation window.

Patch Information

Adobe released fixed builds of InCopy on August 12, 2025. Administrators should apply the updates identified in the Adobe Security Advisory APSB25-80. Managed deployments should use Adobe Creative Cloud Packager or the Admin Console to push the update, and offline systems should be updated manually.

Workarounds

Restrict opening of InCopy documents originating from outside the organization until patches are deployed.
Run InCopy under standard user accounts rather than administrative accounts to limit post-exploitation impact.
Enforce attachment filtering at the mail gateway to strip or sandbox InCopy file types from untrusted senders.

bash

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

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