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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2020-9594

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-06-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 15.006.30518 / 17.011.30166 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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 2020.006.20042 and earlier, 2017.011.30166 and earlier, 2017.011.30166 and earlier, and 2015.006.30518 and earlier have an out-of-bounds write 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

This is an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in Adobe Acrobat and Reader that allows writing data beyond allocated memory boundaries. Successful exploitation can lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. The vulnerability affects multiple older versions across three major release lines (2020.x, 2017.x, and 2015.x).

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched versions. Organizations should deploy updates via their patch management systems and verify complete coverage across all endpoints.

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
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 checks

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

  1. Verify Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installed
    Open Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run: wmic product where "name like 'Adobe%'" get name,version
    Affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC appears in the installed programs list
  2. Identify the exact installed version
    In Programs and Features, note the full version number (for example, 15.006.30452 or 17.011.30145). Alternatively, right-click the Adobe shortcut, select Properties, and check the version field under the Details tab.
    Affected if A version number is displayed that matches one of the three affected version ranges
  3. Compare against first affected range (15.006.30060 to 15.006.30518)
    Check if your installed version starts with 15.006 and falls between 15.006.30060 (inclusive) and 15.006.30518 (exclusive). Version 15.006.30518 itself is patched.
    Affected if Installed version is 15.006.30060 through 15.006.30517 inclusive
  4. Compare against second affected range (15.008.20082 to 20.006.20042)
    Check if your installed version starts with 15.008 or 20.x and falls between 15.008.20082 (inclusive) and 20.006.20042 (exclusive). Versions 20.006.20042 and above are patched.
    Affected if Installed version is 15.008.20082 through 20.006.20041 inclusive, or 20.0x.0 through 20.006.20041
  5. Compare against third affected range (17.011.30059 to 17.011.30166)
    Check if your installed version starts with 17.011 and falls between 17.011.30059 (inclusive) and 17.011.30166 (exclusive). Version 17.011.30166 and above is patched.
    Affected if Installed version is 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30165 inclusive

If Adobe Acrobat DC or Reader DC is installed and the version falls within any of the three vulnerable ranges (15.006.30060-15.006.30517, 15.008.20082-20.006.20041, or 17.011.30059-17.011.30165), the environment is affected by CVE-2020-9594.

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.

From vendor data
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. Organizations should deploy updates via their patch management systems and verify complete coverage across all endpoints.

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,690
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,304.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2020-9594 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