Adobe InDesign up to 17.4/18.0 input validation

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
6.9	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as critical has been detected in Adobe InDesign up to 17.4/18.0. Impacted is an unknown function. This manipulation causes input validation. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2023-21588. The attack can be initiated remotely. There is not any exploit available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Adobe InDesign up to 17.4/18.0 (Image Processing Software). It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is some unknown functionality. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a input validation vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-20. The product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

Adobe InDesign version 18.0 (and earlier), 17.4 (and earlier) are affected by an Improper Input Validation vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.

The weakness was released 01/13/2023 as apsb23-07. It is possible to read the advisory at helpx.adobe.com. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-21588 since 12/01/2022. It demands that the victim is doing some kind of user interaction. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not publicly available.

Upgrading eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at EUVD (EUVD-2023-25755). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

Image Processing Software

Vendor

Adobe

Name

InDesign

Version

License

commercial

Website

Vendor: https://www.adobe.com/

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.0
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.9

VulDB Base Score: 6.3
VulDB Temp Score: 6.0
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CNA Base Score: 7.8
CNA Vector (Adobe Systems Incorporated): 🔍

CVSSv2info

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Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Input validation
CWE: CWE-20
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
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Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Timelineinfo

12/01/2022 🔍
01/13/2023 +43 days 🔍
01/13/2023 +0 days 🔍
09/20/2025 +981 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: adobe.com

Advisory: apsb23-07
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2023-21588 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2023-21588
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-218311
EUVD: 🔍

Entryinfo

Created: 01/13/2023 23:14
Updated: 09/20/2025 22:58
Changes: 01/13/2023 23:14 (49), 09/20/2025 22:58 (16)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103