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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2020-3805

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 vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader allows attackers to achieve arbitrary code execution by exploiting memory that is accessed after being freed. This memory corruption issue affects versions 2020.006.20034 and earlier, 2017.011.30158 and earlier, and 2015.006.30510 and earlier, with a critical CVSS score of 9.8 indicating straightforward exploitation and severe impact.

MitigationUpgrade Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched versions released in March 2020. Organizations should also implement endpoint protection and restrict opening of untrusted PDF files until patches are applied.

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. Check if Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    On Windows, open Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ or check Add/Remove Programs. Look for entries containing 'Adobe Acrobat' or 'Adobe Reader'. On macOS, check /Applications folder for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader apps.
    Affected if Neither Adobe Acrobat nor Adobe Reader is installed on the system
  2. Determine the installed version of Adobe Acrobat
    Right-click the Adobe Acrobat shortcut or executable, select Properties, then look at the Details tab for the Product Version. Alternatively, open Acrobat and go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat.
    Affected if The displayed version matches one of the affected version ranges: 15.006.30060 to 15.006.30517, 15.008.20082 to 20.006.20041, or 17.011.30059 to 17.011.30165
  3. Determine the installed version of Adobe Reader
    Open Adobe Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Reader to view the product version.
    Affected if The displayed version matches one of the affected version ranges: 15.006.30060 to 15.006.30517, 15.008.20082 to 20.006.20041, or 17.011.30059 to 17.011.30165
  4. Compare version against CVE-2020-3805 affected ranges
    Compare your installed version number to the affected ranges: 2020.006.20034 and earlier, 2017.011.30158 and earlier, or 2015.006.30510 and earlier.
    Affected if Your installed version is 2020.006.20034 or lower, 2017.011.30158 or lower, or 2015.006.30510 or lower

If Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed and the version falls within any of the affected ranges (15.006.30060-15.006.30517, 15.008.20082-20.006.20041, or 17.011.30059-17.011.30165), your environment is affected by this use-after-free vulnerability.

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

Upgrade Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched versions released in March 2020. Organizations should also implement endpoint protection and restrict opening of untrusted PDF files until patches are applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat/Reader DC 20.006.20042 (or later for Continuous track); 17.011.30166 (or later for Classic 2017); 15.006.30518 (or later for Classic 2015)

  1. Identify the currently installed Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader version via Help > About Adobe Acrobat/Reader
  2. For Acrobat DC (Continuous track): Upgrade to version 20.006.20042 or later
  3. For Acrobat DC (Classic 2017 track): Upgrade to version 17.011.30166 or later
  4. For Acrobat DC (Classic 2015 track): Upgrade to version 15.006.30518 or later
  5. For Acrobat Reader DC: Apply the same version upgrades as Acrobat DC (Reader is included in the same release)
  6. Download the appropriate updated version from the official Adobe website or use the built-in Help > Check for Updates feature
  7. Restart the application after installation
Caveat Standard Adobe update; minimal risk - ensure backups of any locally stored PDF configurations if desired

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

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
30.0 hours of engineering $5,280
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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-2020-3805 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