dbcve.org
Creative Cloud Desktop ApplicationApplication · Adobe

CVE-2020-9671

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-07-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 5.1 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 Creative Cloud Desktop Application versions 5.1 and earlier have an insecure file permissions vulnerability. Successful exploitation could lead to privilege escalation.

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 confidence

Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop Application versions 5.1 and earlier contains insecure file permissions that allow unprivileged users to modify application files or configuration data, potentially enabling privilege escalation to administrator or SYSTEM level access.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied updates to Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop Application to obtain version 5.2 or later, which contains the corrected file permissions.

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
Creative Cloud Desktop ApplicationApplication
Affected:<= 5.1

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. Identify Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop installation path
    Open Command Prompt and run 'dir /s /b "C:\Program Files*\Adobe\Adobe Creative Cloud*" 2>nul' to locate the installation directory. Also check 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Creative Cloud*' if present.
    Affected if The application is installed in Program Files but permissions allow standard users to modify files or folders within the Adobe Creative Cloud directory.
  2. Determine installed Adobe Creative Cloud version
    Locate the Creative Cloud Desktop executable (typically named Creative Cloud.exe or similar in the installation folder). Right-click the file, select Properties, and check the Version tab for the File Version. Alternatively, run 'wmic product where "name like '%Creative Cloud%'" get version,name' in Command Prompt.
    Affected if The reported version number is 5.1 or lower (e.g., 5.1, 5.0, 4.x).
  3. Verify file permissions on the main installation folder
    Right-click the Adobe Creative Cloud installation folder (e.g., C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Creative Cloud), select Properties, then Security tab. Click on 'Users' or 'Authenticated Users' group and check Permissions. Look for 'Modify' or 'Write' permissions granted.
    Affected if Standard users or the Users group have Write or Modify permissions on the application directory or its subfolders, allowing them to replace executable files or modify configuration.
  4. Check permissions on configuration or data subfolders
    Navigate to common config subfolders such as 'Resources', 'config', or 'settings' within the Adobe Creative Cloud installation directory. Right-click each, check Security tab, and verify if standard users have Write or Modify access.
    Affected if Non-administrative users can write to configuration files, XML files, or JSON settings that the application reads at runtime.

A system is affected if Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop version 5.1 or earlier is installed AND standard (non-admin) users have Write or Modify permissions on the application directory or its configuration files.

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 a release after 5.1
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied updates to Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop Application to obtain version 5.2 or later, which contains the corrected file permissions.

Recommended fix High confidence

Creative Cloud Desktop Application 5.2 or later

  1. Navigate to the Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop Application
  2. Open the application and access the Settings or Preferences menu
  3. Check for available updates or navigate to the Help > Check for Updates option
  4. Download and install the latest Creative Cloud Desktop Application version
  5. Restart the system if prompted to complete the installation

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

Fix this in Creative Cloud Desktop Application Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,210
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,936.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-9671 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2020-9671 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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