CVE-2020-24433
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedAdobe Acrobat Reader DC versions 2020.012.20048 (and earlier), 2020.001.30005 (and earlier) and 2017.011.30175 (and earlier) are affected by a local privilege escalation vulnerability that could enable a user without administrator privileges to delete arbitrary files and potentially execute arbitrary code as SYSTEM. Exploitation of this issue requires an attacker to socially engineer a victim, or the attacker must already have some access to the environment.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceAdobe Acrobat Reader DC contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability allowing unprivileged users to delete arbitrary files and potentially execute code as SYSTEM. The vulnerability affects multiple older version branches (2020.x, 2020.001.x, and 2017.011.x) and requires social engineering or prior access to the environment for exploitation.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 20.001.30005<= 17.011.30175<= 20.012.20048<= 20.001.30005<= 17.011.30175<= 20.012.20048CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Locate installed Adobe Acrobat or Reader versionOpen Windows Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\ or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat Reader\DC\InstallPath, or check Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader in the applicationAffected if The displayed version is blank, missing, or cannot be determined
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Identify the version branch and full version numberNote the complete version string (for example 20.001.30005 or 17.011.30175) from the registry value or About dialogAffected if The version string is incomplete or unreadable, preventing comparison
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Compare Adobe Acrobat version against vulnerable rangesIf using Adobe Acrobat (not Reader), compare the installed version to <= 20.001.30005 for 2020.x branchAffected if The installed Adobe Acrobat version is 20.001.30005 or lower
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Compare Adobe Acrobat DC version against vulnerable rangesFor Adobe Acrobat DC, compare the installed version to <= 17.011.30175 (2017 branch) or <= 20.012.20048 (2020 branch)Affected if The installed Adobe Acrobat DC version is 17.011.30175 or lower, OR 20.012.20048 or lower
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Compare Adobe Acrobat Reader version against vulnerable rangesIf using Adobe Acrobat Reader (not Pro), compare the installed version to <= 20.001.30005 for 2020.x branchAffected if The installed Adobe Acrobat Reader version is 20.001.30005 or lower
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Compare Adobe Acrobat Reader DC version against vulnerable rangesFor Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, compare the installed version to <= 17.011.30175 (2017 branch) or <= 20.012.20048 (2020 branch)Affected if The installed Adobe Acrobat Reader DC version is 17.011.30175 or lower, OR 20.012.20048 or lower
The environment is affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader (any variant) is installed with a version that falls at or below any of these thresholds: 20.001.30005, 20.012.20048, or 17.011.30175.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to a patched version beyond 2020.012.20048, 2020.001.30005, or 2017.011.30175. Review system file permissions to limit potential impact if exploitation occurs.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-24433 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-24433 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data