CVE-2020-24436
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 · uneditedAcrobat Pro DC versions 2020.012.20048 (and earlier), 2020.001.30005 (and earlier) and 2017.011.30175 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds write vulnerability that could result in writing past the end of an allocated memory structure. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current user. This vulnerability requires user interaction to exploit in that the victim must open a malicious document.
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 · high confidenceThis is an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC that allows writing past the end of an allocated memory structure. Exploitation requires a victim to open a malicious PDF document, and can lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user.
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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Identify the installed Adobe productOpen Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader. Go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or About Adobe Acrobat Reader) to see the exact product name and version displayed in the dialog box.Affected if The product is Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Acrobat DC, Adobe Acrobat Reader, or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC.
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Confirm the product variantNote whether you have the Continuous track (DC) or the Classic track. The Continuous track version is indicated by 'DC' in the product name; the Classic track has version numbers like 20.xx.xxxx.Affected if The product is either the Continuous (DC) track or the Classic track.
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Check the installed version numberRecord the exact version number shown in the About dialog. For DC track products, look for versions like 20.012.20048 or earlier. For Classic track, look for versions like 20.001.30005 or earlier.Affected if The version is at or below the affected thresholds: 20.001.30005 (Classic), 17.011.30175 (Classic 2017), 20.012.20048 or earlier (DC), or 17.011.30175 (DC 2017).
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Verify the build falls within affected rangesCompare your recorded version against the affected ranges: Classic 2020 track versions <=20.001.30005, Classic 2017 versions <=17.011.30175, DC 2020 track versions <=20.012.20048, and DC 2017 versions <=17.011.30175.Affected if Your exact version matches or is lower than any of the listed affected version numbers.
You are affected if you have Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader (any variant) installed with a version number at or below the affected thresholds for your track (Classic 2020, Classic 2017, DC 2020, or DC 2017).
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 Pro DC to the latest patched version (2020.012.20049 or later for the 2020 track, and corresponding patched versions for other affected tracks). Avoid opening untrusted PDF documents until updates are applied.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-24436 — 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-2020-24436 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
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