Adobe has recently released a critical security update for its widely used design software, Illustrator, addressing a severe vulnerability that could enable attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected systems. This vulnerability, identified as CVE-2025-30330, has been classified as critical with a Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base score of 7.8.
Understanding the Vulnerability
The identified flaw is a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability (CWE-122). In technical terms, this type of vulnerability occurs when a program allocates more memory on the heap than is available, leading to potential overwriting of adjacent memory. This can result in unpredictable behavior, including system crashes and the execution of malicious code.
In the context of Adobe Illustrator, this vulnerability could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code within the context of the current user. This means that if a user with administrative privileges is affected, the attacker could potentially gain full control over the system.
Technical Details
The vulnerability has been detailed with the following CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Breaking this down:
– AV:L (Attack Vector: Local): The attacker needs local access to exploit the vulnerability.
– AC:L (Attack Complexity: Low): The attack does not require any special conditions.
– PR:N (Privileges Required: None): No privileges are required to exploit the vulnerability.
– UI:R (User Interaction: Required): The user must perform an action, such as opening a malicious file.
– S:U (Scope: Unchanged): The exploited vulnerability does not affect resources beyond its security scope.
– C:H (Confidentiality Impact: High): There is a significant impact on the confidentiality of the system.
– I:H (Integrity Impact: High): There is a significant impact on the integrity of the system.
– A:H (Availability Impact: High): There is a significant impact on the availability of the system.
Affected Versions
The vulnerability impacts the following versions of Adobe Illustrator:
– Illustrator 2025 version 29.3 and earlier on Windows and macOS.
– Illustrator 2024 version 28.7.5 and earlier on Windows and macOS.
Mitigation Measures
Adobe has addressed this vulnerability in the following updated versions:
– Illustrator 2025 version 29.4 and above.
– Illustrator 2024 version 28.7.6 and above.
Users are strongly advised to update their Illustrator installations immediately through the Creative Cloud desktop application’s update mechanism. For those who have disabled automatic updates, manual intervention will be required.
Potential Impact
Exploitation of this vulnerability requires user interaction, specifically that a victim must open a malicious file crafted by the attacker. This represents a common attack vector where malicious actors distribute specially crafted Illustrator files through email attachments, compromised websites, or other means.
A remote attacker can trick the victim into opening a specially crafted file, trigger a heap-based buffer overflow, and execute arbitrary code on the target system. Depending on the privileges associated with the user, an attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than those who operate with administrative user rights.
Recommendations
Organizations using Adobe Illustrator should implement a comprehensive patch management strategy, consider disabling automatic updates to control deployment scheduling, and maintain user awareness about the risks of opening files from untrusted sources.
Users concerned about potential exploitation should update their software immediately and exercise caution when opening Illustrator files from unknown or untrusted sources.
Conclusion
The discovery and patching of this critical vulnerability underscore the importance of regular software updates and user vigilance. By promptly updating Adobe Illustrator and exercising caution with untrusted files, users can significantly reduce the risk of exploitation.
