CVE-2020-3803
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 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 an insecure library loading (dll hijacking) vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to privilege escalation.
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 confidenceAdobe Acrobat and Reader contain an insecure library loading (DLL hijacking) vulnerability. An attacker can place a malicious DLL in a location where the application loads libraries from, potentially executing arbitrary code with the privileges of the logged-on user. Successful exploitation leads to privilege escalation.
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>= 15.006.30060, < 15.006.30518>= 15.008.20082, < 20.006.20042>= 17.011.30059, < 17.011.30166>= 15.006.30060, < 15.006.30518>= 15.008.20082, < 20.006.20042>= 17.011.30059, < 17.011.30166CVSS 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 Adobe Acrobat or Reader installationOpen Windows Registry and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC (or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Reader\DC) and locate the 'Version' value, or right-click the application executable in Program Files and view PropertiesAffected if The application is Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Reader DC and version falls within affected ranges
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Compare installed version against affected rangesNote the full version number (e.g., 15.008.20082) and check if it is >= 15.006.30060 AND < 15.006.30518, OR >= 15.008.20082 AND < 20.006.20042, OR >= 17.011.30059 AND < 17.011.30166Affected if The installed version matches any of the three affected ranges listed in the CVE
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Check for suspicious DLLs in application directoryList all .dll files in the Adobe Acrobat/Reader installation folder (typically C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat DC\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat DC\) and note any unknown or recently added DLLs that are not part of a standard installationAffected if Unexpected DLL files exist in the application directory, especially if the directory is writable by non-admin users
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Verify directory permissionsRight-click the Adobe installation folder, select Properties, go to the Security tab, and review which users or groups have Write or Modify permissionsAffected if Users other than Administrators have Write or Modify permissions to the Adobe application directory, allowing DLL placement
A user is affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Reader DC is installed with a version number matching any of the three affected ranges, or if the application directory contains unexpected DLLs and permits write access to non-admin users.
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 data15.006.3051817.011.3016620.006.20042
Update Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched versions. Apply vendor security updates promptly. Implement least-privilege user practices and restrict write access to application directories.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-3803 — 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-2020-3803 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