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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2020-3801

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-03-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 15.006.30518 / 17.011.30166 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Adobe Acrobat and Reader versions 2020.006.20034 and earlier, 2017.011.30158 and earlier, 2017.011.30158 and earlier, 2015.006.30510 and earlier, and 2015.006.30510 and earlier have a use-after-free 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 · high confidence

A use-after-free memory corruption vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader allows attackers to reuse freed memory regions, potentially achieving arbitrary code execution with kernel-level privileges on affected systems.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched versions beyond 2020.006.20034, 2017.011.30158, and 2015.006.30510 respectively.

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
Acrobat DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.006.30060, < 15.006.30518>= 15.008.20082, < 20.006.20042>= 17.011.30059, < 17.011.30166
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:>= 15.006.30060, < 15.006.30518>= 15.008.20082, < 20.006.20042>= 17.011.30059, < 17.011.30166

CVSS 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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    On Windows, look for Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC in Add or Remove Programs, or check the installation directories C:\Program Files\Adobe\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\. On macOS, check /Applications/ for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader applications.
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is present on the system
  2. Obtain the exact installed version number
    Launch Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader, then navigate to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or About Adobe Reader). Note the full version string which includes both the product version (such as 20.006.20034) and the build number.
    Affected if Product is installed and accessible to check version
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    Match your installed version against these vulnerable ranges: Classic 2015 track versions 15.006.30060 through 15.006.30518, Continuous track versions 15.008.20082 through 20.006.20042, and Classic 2017 track versions 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30166. Compare both the main version number and the full build identifier.
    Affected if Installed version falls within any of the three vulnerable version ranges (15.006.30060 to 15.006.30518, 15.008.20082 to 20.006.20042, or 17.011.30059 to 17.011.30166)

The environment is affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is installed with a version number that falls within any of the three vulnerable version ranges.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 15.006.30518 / 17.011.30166 / 20.006.20042 or later
Fixed in 15.006.3051817.011.3016620.006.20042
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched versions beyond 2020.006.20034, 2017.011.30158, and 2015.006.30510 respectively.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat/Reader DC 2020.006.20042+ (or 15.006.30518+ for 2015 track, or 17.011.30166+ for 2017 Classic track)

  1. 1. Determine the currently installed Adobe Acrobat or Reader version by opening the application and navigating to Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader.
  2. 2. Identify which product line and version year you have (2015, 2017, or 2020) based on the version number.
  3. 3. For Acrobat DC or Reader DC Classic (2015 track - versions 15.x): Upgrade to version 15.006.30518 or later.
  4. 4. For Acrobat DC or Reader DC Continuous (2017/2020 track - versions 15.008.x through 19.x): Upgrade to version 20.006.20042 or later.
  5. 5. For Acrobat DC or Reader DC Classic (2017 track - versions 17.x): Upgrade to version 17.011.30166 or later.
  6. 6. Download the appropriate fixed version from the official Adobe website at get.adobe.com/reader or get.adobe.com/acrobat.
  7. 7. Close all Adobe applications before running the installer.
  8. 8. Run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the upgrade.
Caveat Upgrading Acrobat/Reader may require acceptance of new license terms; ensure compatibility with existing PDF workflows and plugins before deploying

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-3801 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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