Hey everyone, thanks for letting me be here. I’m a complete newbie, so sorry in advance if something sounds dumb.
I used Adobe products legally in the past, but the plugins became too expensive, so I switched and used the GenP patch for AE, PR, IL and PS. Everything worked fine at first. I also added and activated the rules inside the program so no external connections should happen.
Later I noticed files like ACC.log being created. After checking some of the code with ChatGPT, I was told it looks like attempts to communicate with Adobe. That made me uncomfortable, so I started checking all running Adobe processes and network activity using PowerShell and ChatGPT. After that, I disabled everything that was active or could access the internet. I also disabled Adobe background processes, so when I open something like After Effects, only AE itself runs.
What I actually did
• Identified Adobe processes (CCXProcess, AdobeIPCBroker, Crash Processor, CEPHtmlEngine, Premiere, After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.)
• Checked network activity: – No external connections found – Only local/internal communication on xx.xx.xx
• Disabled the scheduled task “Launch Adobe CCXProcess” so Creative Cloud components don’t auto-start.
• Stopped Adobe background services (CCXProcess, AdobeIPCBroker, TeamProjectsLocalHub, dynamiclinkmanager, etc.)
• Created permanent Windows Firewall rules (inbound + outbound = block): – First for specific executables – Then the “nuclear option”: automatically scanned Adobe folders, found 163 Adobe .exe files, and blocked every single one → about 334 firewall rules.
• Verified again with all apps running (AE, PR, PS, IL): → No external IP connections → Only internal/local communication on xx.xx.xx
** Things that stood out / seemed worth checking**
• A lot of Adobe background processes (CCXProcess, AdobeIPCBroker, CEPHtmlEngine multiple times, TeamProjectsLocalHub, crashpad_handler, node, AIRobin…) → Typical cloud, service, telemetry and panel modules.
• Internal network services running Several processes had listening ports and local connections. → Shows Adobe heavily relies on internal micro-services (panels, Dynamic Link, CC hooks).
• Watchdog behavior Adobe Crash Processor and IPCBroker restarted themselves after being killed. → Typical Creative Cloud watchdog behavior.
• Very large amount of modules 163 Adobe executables found. → Important, because otherwise single unchecked modules could still communicate.
My question: Can this level of blocking/breaking background services damage the patch or the software in any way? Right now my Adobe setup is basically running in a completely isolated offline environment.
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Short answer: yes, this is extreme overkill and it’s unnecessary. Roughly 99% of what you’ve done isn’t required and doesn’t meaningfully improve safety or stability.
Adobe apps are designed to function as a tightly integrated ecosystem, and that doesn’t change simply because you moved from a genuine to a non-genuine setup. When using the GenP method, the software is intended to behave the same way it would under a normal subscription, which means background processes and some network-aware components are expected.
Seeing processes like CCXProcess, AdobeIPCBroker, CEPHtmlEngine, crash handlers, TeamProjects services, and similar components is completely normal. These are not suspicious by default; they handle panels, extensions, UI rendering, shared libraries, Dynamic Link, IPC, and crash reporting. Likewise, internal or localhost connections are expected because Adobe apps rely heavily on local micro-services talking to each other. Listening ports and internal traffic do not imply outbound communication or data exfiltration.
Watchdog behaviour is also intentional. Some Adobe services are designed to restart if they’re killed, which is standard resilience behaviour in complex apps and not malware-like persistence. Log files such as
ACC.logare written regardless of connectivity, and the presence of logs or failed connection attempts does not mean successful external communication is happening.Blocking hundreds of executables at the firewall level is where things become counterproductive. Indiscriminately blocking everything can break panels, extensions, Dynamic Link, and shared services, cause random crashes or startup delays, and lead to undefined behaviour over long sessions. It adds complexity without providing meaningful additional protection and actually increases the risk of instability and hard-to-diagnose issues.
Forcing Adobe apps into a fully isolated offline environment is not how they’re designed to run. While it may appear to work in the short term, it makes the setup fragile and harder to maintain. The safest and most predictable approach is to follow what’s already documented in the GenP Guides and run the software as close to its intended operating environment as possible, rather than attempting a total lockdown.
In short, this level of blocking isn’t needed, isn’t recommended, and doesn’t really buy you anything beyond extra risk.
