CVE-2020-9681
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 Genuine Service version 6.6 (and earlier) is affected by an Uncontrolled Search Path element vulnerability. An authenticated attacker could exploit this to rewrite the file of the administrator, which may lead to elevated permissions. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction.
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 confidenceAdobe Genuine Service versions 6.6 and earlier contain an Uncontrolled Search Path vulnerability that allows an authenticated attacker to rewrite administrator files by manipulating the search path, potentially achieving privilege escalation. The attack requires user interaction, lowering the practical exploitability despite the authenticated nature.
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<= 6.6CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 Genuine Service installationOpen Windows Control Panel and view installed programs, or run 'Get-ItemProperty' in PowerShell against the Adobe Genuine Service registry key under HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ or HKLM:\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ looking for entries named 'Adobe Genuine Service'Affected if Adobe Genuine Service appears in the installed programs list
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Retrieve the installed version numberIn the same registry location, locate the 'DisplayVersion' value for the Adobe Genuine Service entry and note the version number (for example, values like 6.6, 6.5, 6.4, etc.)Affected if The DisplayVersion value is 6.6 or lower (e.g., 6.6, 6.5, 6.4, 6.3, etc.)
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Confirm service executable existsCheck for the Adobe Genuine Service executable file in typical installation paths such as C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Genuine Service\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Genuine Service\ and verify the file properties show the versionAffected if The executable exists and its file version corresponds to 6.6 or earlier
A user is affected if Adobe Genuine Service is installed and the installed version number is 6.6 or any earlier version.
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 dataUpdate Adobe Genuine Service to a version newer than 6.6. Organizations should review and deploy the latest Adobe updates through their patch management processes.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-9681 — 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-2020-9681 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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