CVE-2023-29309 in InDesign
Summary
by MITRE • 07/12/2023
Adobe InDesign versions ID18.3 (and earlier) and ID17.4.1 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to bypass mitigations such as ASLR. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/12/2023
Adobe InDesign versions ID18.3 and earlier as well as ID17.4.1 and earlier contain a critical out-of-bounds read vulnerability that presents significant security implications for affected systems. This vulnerability resides within the application's handling of specially crafted files and represents a fundamental flaw in memory management that could be exploited by malicious actors. The issue manifests as an out-of-bounds read condition where the software attempts to access memory locations beyond the allocated buffer boundaries, potentially exposing sensitive data stored in adjacent memory regions. Such a vulnerability falls under the CWE-125 weakness category, which specifically addresses out-of-bounds read conditions that can lead to information disclosure and system compromise.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it can be leveraged to bypass critical security mitigations such as Address Space Layout Randomization. This capability significantly weakens the overall security posture of systems running affected InDesign versions, as attackers can potentially extract memory layout information that would normally be randomized to prevent exploitation of other vulnerabilities. The vulnerability requires user interaction to be exploited, meaning that victims must open a maliciously crafted file for the attack to succeed, making social engineering a critical component of successful exploitation attempts. This user interaction requirement does not diminish the severity of the vulnerability, as targeted attacks against specific individuals or organizations can still be highly effective.
Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by crafting a specially formatted file that triggers the out-of-bounds read condition when processed by InDesign. The memory disclosure could potentially reveal stack canaries, heap metadata, or other security-related information that would otherwise be protected by modern memory protection mechanisms. This type of vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for application execution and T1552.001 for data from information repositories, as it enables both code execution and information extraction. The exploitation process typically involves creating a file with malformed data structures that cause the application to read beyond allocated memory boundaries, potentially allowing attackers to gather sufficient information to bypass ASLR protections and execute more sophisticated attacks.
Organizations should prioritize immediate patching of affected InDesign installations to mitigate this vulnerability. The recommended mitigation strategy involves updating to the latest versions of Adobe InDesign where this vulnerability has been addressed through proper bounds checking and memory management improvements. System administrators should also implement additional security controls such as application whitelisting, file extension filtering, and user education programs to reduce the risk of successful exploitation through social engineering attacks. Monitoring for suspicious file access patterns and implementing network-based intrusion detection systems can provide additional layers of defense against potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper input validation and memory safety practices in commercial software applications, particularly those handling complex document formats that require extensive parsing and processing.