CVE-2020-29075
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 Reader DC versions 2020.013.20066 (and earlier), 2020.001.30010 (and earlier) and 2017.011.30180 (and earlier) are affected by an information exposure vulnerability, that could enable an attacker to get a DNS interaction and track if the user has opened or closed a PDF file when loaded from the filesystem without a prompt. User interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability.
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 information exposure vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC where opening or closing a PDF file loaded from the filesystem can trigger DNS interactions that reveal user activity to an attacker, enabling tracking of file access without prompting the 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>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30180>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.001.30010>= 15.008.20082, <= 20.013.20066>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30180>= 20.001.30005, <= 20.001.30010>= 15.008.20082, <= 20.013.20066CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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 installed Adobe productCheck for installed Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader on the system. On Windows, look in Programs and Features or check common installation paths like C:\Program Files\Adobe or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe. On macOS, check /Applications for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader.Affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader (Standard or DC variant) is installed
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Determine exact version numberOpen Adobe Acrobat or Reader, then navigate to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or About Adobe Acrobat Reader) to display the exact version number. Alternatively, on Windows you may check the version property of the executable file in the installation directory.Affected if The displayed version matches one of the affected ranges: 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30180, 20.001.30005 through 20.001.30010, or 15.008.20082 through 20.013.20066 (for DC variants)
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Confirm product variant (Standard vs DC)Verify whether the installed product is Adobe Acrobat/Reader Standard or Adobe Acrobat/Reader DC (Document Cloud). The DC variants have a broader affected range (15.008.20082 to 20.013.20066) compared to the Standard product versions.Affected if The product is Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC and the version falls between 15.008.20082 and 20.013.20066
You are affected if Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader (Standard or DC) is installed and its exact version falls within any of the listed vulnerable ranges.
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 2020.013.20066, 2020.001.30010, or 2017.011.30180 to remediate this vulnerability.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-29075 — 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-2020-29075 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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