CVE-2020-9604
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 2020.006.20042 and earlier, 2017.011.30166 and earlier, 2017.011.30166 and earlier, and 2015.006.30518 and earlier have a buffer error 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 · moderate confidenceA buffer error vulnerability exists in Adobe Acrobat and Reader that allows successful exploitation leading to arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability affects multiple older versions of both products across the 2015, 2017, and 2020 release lines.
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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Verify Adobe Acrobat or Reader is installedCheck Program Files for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader folders, or look for the application in the Windows Start MenuAffected if Either Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is present on the system
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Determine installed version via registryRun 'reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\InstallProperties" /v Version' for 2020 version, or check the appropriate version key under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\ for 2015 or 2017 releasesAffected if The version displayed matches any of the vulnerable ranges: 15.006.30060 to 15.006.30517, 15.008.20082 to 20.006.20041, or 17.011.30059 to 17.011.30165
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Check version via application Help menuOpen Adobe Acrobat or Reader, click Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or Reader) to display the exact version numberAffected if The displayed version falls within any of the affected version ranges listed in the CVE
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Identify product track (Continuous vs. Classic)The version number format indicates the track: 20.x.x.x is 2020 Continuous, 17.x.x.x is 2017 Classic, 15.x.x.x can be either 2015 or 2017 ContinuousAffected if The product is any of the vulnerable versions across the 2015, 2017, or 2020 release lines
A user is affected if Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat 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.
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
Apply the vendor-supplied security update to upgrade Adobe Acrobat and Reader to the latest patched versions beyond 2020.006.20042, 2017.011.30166, and 2015.006.30518.
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- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-9604 — 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-2020-9604 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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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.
- 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