Adobe Photoshop: NULL pointer dereference causing application denial-of-service
Summary
A NULL pointer dereference in Adobe Photoshop Desktop can crash the application, causing a denial-of-service condition. The flaw is rated CVSS 5.5 (Medium) and affects only availability, with no confidentiality or integrity impact. An attacker must convince a user to open a malicious file, so exposure is mainly through file-based delivery such as email attachments or downloads.
Affected
- Adobe Photoshop 2026: 27.11 and earlier (Windows and macOS)
- Adobe Photoshop 2025: 26.11.8 and earlier (Windows and macOS)
Fixed in
- Adobe Photoshop 2026: 27.11.1 or later
- Adobe Photoshop 2027: 28.0 or later
- Adobe Photoshop 2025: no fix, end of updates per the Creative Cloud Support Policy; upgrade to 2026 or 2027
Workaround
Unknown.
- Until patched, do not open untrusted Photoshop files, such as unknown email attachments or downloads.
Exploitation
- Adobe is not aware of any exploits in the wild for the issues in this update.
- No public proof of concept or exploit was found.
- CISA SSVC assessment: Exploitation none, Automatable no, Technical Impact partial.
Our recommendation
- Update Photoshop 2026 to version 27.11.1 or later, and Photoshop 2027 to 28.0 or later, on all workstations via the Creative Cloud desktop app or the Admin Console.
- Uninstall or replace Photoshop 2025 installations, as they no longer receive security updates.
- Instruct users not to open untrusted Photoshop files until the update is applied.
- Patch the whole APSB26-181 update, not only this CVE.
Public exploits
PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit and Exploit-DB list nothing for this CVE.
Research sources
- CVE Record CVE-2026-113569 www.cve.org
- Adobe Security Bulletin APSB26-181 www.adobe.com
- ZDI November 2026 Security Update Review www.zerodayinitiative.com
Researched and written up in English and German by an AI (Claude by Anthropic) based on NVD, CISA, EPSS and the sources listed. The vendor information is authoritative. Researched on 11 Nov 2026, 16:14.
Original description (NVD)
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.
NVD references (1)
Sources
The tracker combines official, freely usable data sources – updated continuously:
- NVD (NIST) – CVEs, rating (CVSS), affected products
- CISA KEV – vulnerabilities confirmed by CISA as actively exploited
- CISA Vulnrichment – CISA assessment (SSVC) in the official CVE record
- FIRST EPSS – probability of exploitation
- Microsoft MSRC – Patch Tuesday: vulnerabilities, severity, updates
- PoC-in-GitHub – public proof-of-concept repositories
- Metasploit (Rapid7) – modules of the Metasploit Framework
- Exploit-DB (OffSec) – archive of public exploits (links only)
- Patch days: official vendor pages (linked per vendor) (Vendor patch days)
This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS data © FIRST.org.
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