CVE-2026-95640 in Photoshop
Summary
by MITRE • 10/14/2026
Photoshop Desktop is affected by a NULL Pointer Dereference 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 • 10/14/2026
The Adobe Photoshop Desktop software contains a critical NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability within its core processing engine. This specific flaw arises when the application attempts to access memory addresses associated with image data or layer structures without first verifying whether those pointers have been properly initialized or allocated. In standard programming practices, accessing a null pointer leads to an immediate segmentation fault because the operating system prevents processes from reading or writing to invalid memory locations. When this condition is triggered within Photoshop, the application cannot gracefully handle the error and instead terminates abruptly to prevent further corruption of the process state. This behavior directly results in a denial-of-service scenario where the user loses access to their work and must restart the software, potentially leading to data loss if auto-save features are not configured or have failed.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to users who frequently handle complex files from external sources. The exploitation of this flaw does not require remote code execution or elevated privileges; rather it relies on social engineering tactics where the victim is persuaded to open a specially crafted malicious file. This requirement for user interaction classifies the attack vector as local and interactive, meaning that an attacker must have some level of access to deliver the payload, such as through email attachments, shared network drives, or downloaded content from untrusted websites. Once opened, the malformed data triggers the null pointer condition during the parsing phase, causing immediate application instability. This impacts productivity significantly for professional designers who rely on continuous uptime and may result in frustration due to the loss of unsaved edits.
In terms of industry-standard classification systems, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-476 which defines NULL Pointer Dereference as a software defect where a program dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is actually null. This type of error is often categorized under injection flaws or improper input validation depending on the specific context of how the malformed data was introduced. Furthermore, within the MITRE ATT&CK framework, this exploitation technique falls under T1204 User Execution, which covers scenarios where a user must perform an action to trigger malicious code execution or system compromise. While this particular instance results only in denial-of-service rather than arbitrary code execution, it demonstrates how input validation failures can be leveraged for disruptive attacks against creative software suites that process untrusted binary data formats.
To mitigate the risks associated with this vulnerability, organizations and individual users should ensure that Adobe Photoshop is updated to the latest version provided by Adobe Systems Incorporated. These updates typically include patches that implement rigorous pointer initialization checks and enhanced input validation routines before processing file structures. Additionally, adopting a defense-in-depth strategy involves restricting the execution of untrusted files within isolated environments or sandboxed containers where potential crashes do not affect critical system resources. Users should also exercise caution when opening files from unknown sources and enable automatic backup features to minimize data loss in the event of an application crash. Regular security awareness training can further reduce the likelihood of successful exploitation by helping users recognize suspicious file types and phishing attempts that attempt to deliver such malicious payloads.