CVE-2020-3776
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 Photoshop CC 2019 versions 20.0.8 and earlier, and Photoshop 2020 versions 21.1 and earlier have a buffer errors vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to arbitrary code execution.
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 confidenceA buffer errors vulnerability in Adobe Photoshop CC 2019 (versions 20.0.8 and earlier) and Photoshop 2020 (versions 21.1 and earlier) allows successful exploitation to achieve arbitrary code execution, likely through specially crafted image files.
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>= 21.0, <= 21.1>= 20.0, <= 20.0.8CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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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Check if Adobe Photoshop is installedLocate the Photoshop executable. On Windows, typically in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop [version]\Photoshop.exe. On Mac, check /Applications/Adobe Photoshop [version]. If the application exists, proceed to version detection.Affected if Adobe Photoshop CC 2019 or Photoshop 2020 is installed on the system
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Identify the installed Photoshop versionOpen Photoshop and go to Help > About Photoshop to display the version number. Alternatively, on Windows check the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Photoshop\InstallPath for the install location, then right-click the Photoshop.exe file and view Properties > Details to see the File Version.Affected if The displayed version matches either the 20.0.x range (CC 2019) or the 21.0-21.1 range (2020)
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Compare version against affected rangesIf the installed version is in the 20.0 through 20.0.8 range, it is Photoshop CC 2019 and vulnerable. If the version is 21.0 or 21.1, it is Photoshop 2020 and vulnerable. Versions outside these specific ranges (below 20.0, above 20.0.8 for CC 2019, or above 21.1 for 2020) are not affected by this specific CVE.Affected if The installed version falls within 20.0 to 20.0.8 (CC 2019) OR 21.0 to 21.1 (2020)
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Verify the vulnerability trigger conditionThis vulnerability is triggered when opening specially crafted image files. The flaw is a buffer errors issue that can lead to arbitrary code execution. The attack vector is parsing malicious image files, so the presence of the vulnerable version alone constitutes exposure to the flaw.Affected if The vulnerable Photoshop version is installed and the application is used to open image files from untrusted sources
A user is affected if Adobe Photoshop CC 2019 version 20.0 through 20.0.8 OR Photoshop 2020 version 21.0 through 21.1 is installed on their system.
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 Photoshop to the patched version (20.0.9 or later for CC 2019, 21.2 or later for 2020) and exercise caution when opening .psd files from untrusted sources.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-3776 — 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-2020-3776 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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