Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is an app for editing photos, combining images and creating graphics. It’s made by Adobe, based in the United States.
Criminals have used its name in fake downloads or scams, so get it only from adobe.com.
What it is
Photoshop lets people adjust photos, remove objects, replace backgrounds and combine images. It also includes AI tools for generating and changing parts of a picture.
It needs access to files to open and save your work. Screen Recording permission lets its Eyedropper tool sample colours from other apps. You can refuse that permission and still sample colours inside Photoshop.
Adobe distributes the desktop app through its website and publishes security updates. Use the official download and keep it updated. Researchers have found malware offered as pirated Photoshop downloads.
Who makes it
Adobe is a publicly listed software company founded in 1982 and based in San Jose, California. Its legal name is Adobe Inc.. Its website is adobe.com.
Adobe makes other software with flaws that attackers have used. Its page in Companies lists them.
Is it the real one?
Every Mac app carries a signature from the developer who made it. Apple checks who the developer is before handing out the certificate, and macOS refuses to open an app whose signature has been tampered with.
HARD hasn’t yet recorded the signature on a real copy of Adobe Photoshop. Its Mac app shows who signed the copy you have.
Its bundle ID, the name macOS knows it by, is com.adobe.Photoshop. Download it only from adobe.com, not from an ad or a link someone sends you.
Fakes. In April 2024, Moonlock Lab reported that a site advertising pirated Mac apps, including Photoshop, used download buttons to deliver Atomic Stealer malware. The malware could steal credentials and other sensitive information.
What it connects to
In normal use, Adobe Photoshop talks to these places on the internet. A firewall that asks before apps connect, like the one in HARD’s Mac app, will show them.
| Address | Why |
|---|---|
ims-na1.adobelogin.com | Adobe account sign-in |
*.licenses.adobe.com | Licence activation and checks |
ccmdl.adobe.com | Adobe software downloads |
libraries.adobe.io | Creative Cloud Libraries |
stock.adobe.com | Adobe Stock images and assets |
fonts.adobe.com | Adobe fonts |
What it can see
macOS asks you before an app can use these. You can change them any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security.
| Permission | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Files and Folders | To open and save files in protected folders and on storage volumes. |
| Screen Recording | To sample colours outside Photoshop with the Eyedropper tool; optional for editing within Photoshop. |
| Full Disk Access | Adobe recommends granting this when file access problems prevent Photoshop from starting or working correctly. |
| Accessibility |
Security record
Problems with Adobe Photoshop or Adobe in the last three years, newest first. Keeping the app up to date covers the ones that were fixed.
| When | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe fixed Mac flaws that could allow unauthorised code to run or make Photoshop stop responding in versions 27.11 and 26.11.8. | ↗ | |
| Adobe fixed critical Mac flaws that could allow unauthorised code to run in versions 27.7 and 26.11.7. | ↗ | |
| Adobe fixed a critical Mac flaw that could allow unauthorised code to run in versions 26.9 and 25.12.4. | ↗ | |
| Adobe fixed critical Mac flaws that could allow unauthorised code to run in versions 26.6 and 25.12.3. | ↗ | |
| Adobe fixed a critical Mac flaw that could allow unauthorised code to run in versions 26.5 and 25.12.2. | ↗ |
References
- Adobe Photoshop official download adobe.com
- Adobe Fast Facts adobe.com
- Adobe Inc. 2025 annual report sec.gov
- Adobe Community crash report showing Photoshop's bundle identifier community.adobe.com
- Why am I getting a request to record my screen in Photoshop? helpx.adobe.com
- Adobe Community: Full Disk Access and other Photoshop permissions community.adobe.com
- Update Creative Cloud apps automatically helpx.adobe.com
- Adobe Photoshop on desktop release notes helpx.adobe.com
- Network endpoints for Adobe apps and services helpx.adobe.com
- Moonlock Lab: Pirate sites spread malware posing as CleanMyMac and Photoshop moonlock.com
- Photoshop security update APSB26-158 adobe.com
- Photoshop security update APSB26-130 adobe.com
- Photoshop security update APSB25-75 helpx.adobe.com
- Photoshop security update APSB25-40 helpx.adobe.com
- Photoshop security update APSB25-30 helpx.adobe.com