Overview
A significant vulnerability, CVE-2025-49527, has been identified in popular vector graphics software Illustrator, affecting versions 28.7.6 and 29.5.1 and earlier. This vulnerability is a stack-based buffer overflow that could potentially lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. The implications of such a vulnerability are severe, as a successful exploit could lead to system compromise or data leakage, hence posing a substantial threat to system integrity and data privacy. Given Illustrator’s wide user base, this vulnerability is of significant concern in the cybersecurity community.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-49527
Severity: High (7.8 CVSS score)
Attack Vector: Local
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Arbitrary code execution leading to potential system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
Product | Affected Versions
Illustrator | 28.7.6 and earlier
Illustrator | 29.5.1 and earlier
How the Exploit Works
The exploit leverages a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in Illustrator. A buffer overflow occurs when more data is written to a block of memory, or buffer, than it can hold. In this case, an attacker would craft a malicious file that, when opened by the victim, would cause Illustrator to write beyond the end of a buffer located on the stack. This overflow can overwrite other important data on the stack, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user.
Conceptual Example Code
Below is a simplified conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited. The attacker crafts a file that contains an overly long string of data. When the file is opened in Illustrator, the buffer is overflowed, and the attacker’s malicious code is executed.
# This is a conceptual code snippet, not actual exploit code
def create_malicious_file(filename):
buffer = "A" * 5000 # An overly long string of data
malicious_code = "\x90" * 1000 # NOP sled
malicious_code += "\xcc" * 400 # INT3 instructions to cause a software breakpoint
with open(filename, 'w') as f:
f.write(buffer + malicious_code)
create_malicious_file("malicious_file.ai")Note that the above code does not represent an actual exploit; it is a simplified conceptual example. Actual exploit code would be far more complex and would need to be specifically crafted to target the vulnerable versions of Illustrator.
