Overview
The cybersecurity landscape is perpetually evolving with new vulnerabilities surfacing, posing a significant threat to users and systems worldwide. One such vulnerability is the CVE-2025-54206, which affects Adobe’s InDesign Desktop versions 20.4, 19.5.4 and earlier. This vulnerability is particularly concerning due to its potential to allow arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user, contingent on the user opening a malicious file. This makes it a potent tool in the hands of adversaries, as it can potentially lead to system compromise or data leakage.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-54206
Severity: High (7.8 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Local
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Arbitrary code execution leading to potential system compromise and data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
InDesign Desktop | 20.4 and earlier
InDesign Desktop | 19.5.4 and earlier
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability stems from an out-of-bounds write flaw in the affected versions of InDesign Desktop. An out-of-bounds write vulnerability occurs when the software writes data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer. This can corrupt data, crash the program, or lead to the execution of malicious code.
In the case of CVE-2025-54206, an attacker can craft a malicious file that, when opened by a victim in the affected software, exploits the out-of-bounds write vulnerability to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user. This could potentially compromise the system or lead to data leakage.
Conceptual Example Code
The following pseudocode provides a conceptual example of how this vulnerability might be exploited:
# Creating a malicious file exploiting the out-of-bounds write vulnerability
echo "malicious_payload" > malicious_file.indd
# The malicious file is then sent to the victim, who opens it in an affected version of InDesign Desktop
victim@target:~$ open -a "InDesign Desktop" malicious_file.inddIn this scenario, the `malicious_payload` is crafted in such a way that it exploits the out-of-bounds write vulnerability when the file is opened in InDesign Desktop, leading to arbitrary code execution in the context of the victim’s user account.
