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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2020-9600

HIGH · 7.5 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 →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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 2020.006.20042 and earlier, 2017.011.30166 and earlier, 2017.011.30166 and earlier, and 2015.006.30518 and earlier have an out-of-bounds read vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to information disclosure.

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

Adobe Acrobat and Reader contain an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in versions 2020.006.20042 and earlier, 2017.011.30166 and earlier, and 2015.006.30518 and earlier. The vulnerability allows reading memory beyond allocated boundaries during PDF processing, potentially exposing sensitive information. User interaction typically involves opening a maliciously crafted PDF file.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patches from Adobe for the affected Acrobat and Reader versions. Prioritize updates for endpoints processing untrusted PDF documents. Implement application control policies to restrict PDF readers from opening files from untrusted sources.

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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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
    Check Windows Registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat Reader, or look in Program Files for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader folders
    Affected if Either Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is present on the system
  2. Determine the installed version of Adobe Acrobat DC
    Run command: reg query "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\InstallProperties" /v Version. Alternatively, right-click the Acrobat executable in Program Files and view Properties > Details > File Version
    Affected if Version falls within 15.006.30060 to 15.006.30518, 15.008.20082 to 20.006.20042, or 17.011.30059 to 17.011.30166
  3. Determine the installed version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
    Run command: reg query "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat Reader\DC\InstallProperties" /v Version. Alternatively, check the Reader executable in Program Files
    Affected if Version falls within 15.006.30060 to 15.006.30518, 15.008.20082 to 20.006.20042, or 17.011.30059 to 17.011.30166
  4. Confirm the vulnerable component is accessible
    Verify the PDF processing component is not disabled. On Windows, Adobe Reader/Acrobat typically loads pdfview.exe or AcroRd32.exe when opening PDFs. Attempt to open a test PDF file to confirm functionality
    Affected if The PDF reader software is functional and able to process PDF documents

A system is affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is installed with a version number matching any of the three affected ranges: 15.006.30060 to 15.006.30518, 15.008.20082 to 20.006.20042, or 17.011.30059 to 17.011.30166

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

Apply vendor-supplied patches from Adobe for the affected Acrobat and Reader versions. Prioritize updates for endpoints processing untrusted PDF documents. Implement application control policies to restrict PDF readers from opening files from untrusted sources.

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,780
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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-2020-9600 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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