CVE-2026-103827 in Substance 3D Designer
Summary
by MITRE • 10/13/2026
Substance3D - Designer is affected by a Stack-based Buffer Overflow vulnerability that could result in an application denial-of-service. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to crash the application, leading to a denial-of-service condition. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/13/2026
The identified vulnerability within Substance 3D Designer represents a critical security flaw classified as a stack-based buffer overflow. This type of memory corruption error occurs when a program writes more data to a fixed-length block of memory, or buffer, than it can hold. In the context of Adobe's design software, this typically manifests during the parsing and processing of complex file formats that contain 3D models, textures, or project configurations. The application allocates a specific amount of stack space for temporary variables and function return addresses while handling input data. When an attacker crafts a malicious file with oversized or malformed fields within its internal structure, the software fails to perform adequate bounds checking before copying this data into the allocated buffer. Consequently, the excess data overwrites adjacent memory locations on the call stack, potentially corrupting critical control flow information such as return addresses or function pointers.
From an operational perspective, the immediate impact of exploiting this vulnerability is a denial-of-service condition rather than arbitrary code execution in its current observed state. When the corrupted buffer causes the application to access invalid memory addresses during normal operation, the operating system terminates the process to prevent further instability. This results in an abrupt crash of Substance 3D Designer, leading to data loss for any unsaved work and disrupting the user's workflow. While stack-based overflows are historically associated with remote code execution due to their ability to manipulate program control flow, the specific manifestation here appears limited to causing a fault that crashes the application. This limitation may stem from modern operating system mitigations such as Data Execution Prevention (DEP) or Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR), which make it significantly more difficult for an attacker to execute shellcode in the overwritten memory regions without additional exploitation techniques like return-oriented programming.
The attack vector for this vulnerability is classified as local with user interaction, meaning that a victim must actively open a maliciously crafted file within the application. This requirement introduces a social engineering component to the exploit chain, where an adversary might distribute the malformed file through phishing emails or compromised repositories under the guise of legitimate design assets. Once opened, the parsing engine processes the input without sufficient validation, triggering the overflow condition. The necessity for user interaction reduces the likelihood of automated, worm-like propagation but does not eliminate the risk, particularly in collaborative environments where files are frequently shared between designers and studios.
To mitigate this vulnerability, users should ensure that their installation of Substance 3D Designer is updated to the latest version provided by Adobe, as patches typically include enhanced input validation routines that check buffer lengths before processing data. Organizations relying on this software for production workflows should implement strict file intake policies, potentially using sandboxed environments or isolated virtual machines when opening files from untrusted sources. Additionally, enabling operating-level protections such as DEP and ASLR provides an additional layer of defense against potential exploitation attempts by randomizing memory layouts and preventing the execution of code in non-executable memory regions. Monitoring for unusual application crashes can also serve as a detection mechanism for attempted exploits within enterprise environments.
This vulnerability aligns with Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) identifier CWE-121, which describes stack-based buffer overflow conditions where local variables are allocated on the stack and overwritten by excessive input. It is further categorized under CWE-787, indicating an out-of-bounds write to a memory location that can lead to arbitrary code execution or denial of service depending on the specific context and system protections in place. In terms of tactical classification within the MITRE ATT&CK framework, this scenario relates to T1203, which covers Exploitation for Client Side Execution, specifically highlighting how attackers leverage vulnerabilities in client applications through malicious file delivery to disrupt availability or potentially gain initial access if more advanced exploitation techniques are employed alongside the buffer overflow.