CVE-2020-9607
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 an 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 confidenceAdobe Acrobat and Reader contain a use-after-free vulnerability where memory is accessed after it has been freed, allowing attackers to execute arbitrary code via specially crafted PDF documents.
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 installedOn Windows, check registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, or look in Program Files for Adobe folders. On macOS, check /Applications for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader.Affected if Either Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is present on the system
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Determine the exact installed versionOpen Adobe Acrobat or Reader, then go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat (or About Adobe Reader). Alternatively, on Windows right-click the executable in Program Files > Adobe > [product] > [version] and select Properties > Details to view the Product Version.Affected if A version number is displayed that can be compared to the affected ranges
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Compare version to affected rangesMatch the installed version against these vulnerable ranges: 15.006.30060 through 15.006.30517 (2015 version), 15.008.20082 through 20.006.20041 (2020 version), and 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30165 (2017 version).Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: >= 15.006.30060 and < 15.006.30518, OR >= 15.008.20082 and < 20.006.20042, OR >= 17.011.30059 and < 17.011.30166
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Confirm product edition matchesVerify whether the installed product is Adobe Acrobat DC (paid) or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (free), as both are affected. Check the product name in Help > About.Affected if The product is either Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC with a version in the affected ranges
If Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is installed and the version falls within 15.006.30060-15.006.30517, 15.008.20082-20.006.20041, or 17.011.30059-17.011.30165, the environment is vulnerable to CVE-2020-9607.
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 versions newer than 2020.006.20042, 2017.011.30166, and 2015.006.30518 respectively, or apply the relevant security patches from Adobe.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-9607 — 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-2020-9607 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
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