Overview
The cybersecurity landscape is ever-evolving, presenting new challenges daily. The most recent of these threats is the CVE-2025-49529 vulnerability, which targets certain versions of Adobe Illustrator. This vulnerability is particularly concerning as it can lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user, potentially resulting in system compromise or data leakage. The exploitation of this vulnerability, however, requires user interaction, as the victim must open a malicious file.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-49529
Severity: High (7.8 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Local
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Impact: System Compromise and Data Leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
Adobe Illustrator | 28.7.6, 29.5.1 and earlier versions
How the Exploit Works
The exploitation of this vulnerability follows a targeted attack pattern. An attacker crafts a malicious file and sends it to the victim, who must be using a vulnerable version of Adobe Illustrator. When the victim opens this malicious file, the vulnerability is triggered. This vulnerability stems from an Access of Uninitialized Pointer issue, which allows the attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user. This could lead to unauthorized system access, data compromise, or even full system control.
Conceptual Example Code
Here is a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited. Note that this is a simplified representation and real-world attacks may be more complex.
# Attacker creates a malicious file
echo "malicious code" > exploit.ai
# Attacker sends the file to the victim
mail -s "Important Illustrator file" victim@example.com < exploit.ai
# Victim opens the file in Adobe Illustrator, triggering the vulnerabilityMitigation Guidance
Adobe has already acknowledged this vulnerability and advises users to apply the latest patches to secure their systems. If, for some reason, patching is not immediately possible, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can offer temporary mitigation against this vulnerability. Users are also advised to exercise caution when opening files from unknown sources, as this vulnerability requires user interaction for exploitation.
