CVE-2023-21593

Application crash via malicious file handling

Published Feb 17, 2023 · Updated Mar 5, 2025

NULL pointer dereference in Adobe InDesign ID18.1 and earlier and ID17.4 and earlier allows attackers to crash the application via a malicious file. Adobe has not published the affected parser or the operation that dereferences the null pointer while processing the file. Exploitation requires a user to open the crafted file, and the reported consequence is interruption of the current user's InDesign process rather than data disclosure or code execution.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.34%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

NULL pointer dereference in Adobe InDesign ID18.1 and earlier and ID17.4 and earlier allows attackers to crash the application via a malicious file. Adobe has not published the affected parser or the operation that dereferences the null pointer while processing the file. Exploitation requires a user to open the crafted file, and the reported consequence is interruption of the current user's InDesign process rather than data disclosure or code execution.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-21593
Published
Feb 17, 2023
Updated
Mar 5, 2025
Vendor
Adobe
Product
InDesign
Classifications
CWE-476, T1204.002
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 17, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Mar 5, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=ID17.4
  2. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=ID18.1
  3. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=None

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Adobe · InDesignversion=unspecified <=ID17.4; version=unspecified <=ID18.1; version=unspecified <=None

Published CVSS scores

5.5AdobeCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-476NULL Pointer Dereference
T1204.002Malicious File

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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