CVE-2020-9687
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 Photoshop versions Photoshop CC 2019, and Photoshop 2020 have an out-of-bounds write 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 confidenceAdobe Photoshop CC 2019 and 2020 contain an out-of-bounds write vulnerability that allows writing data beyond allocated memory boundaries. Successful exploitation can lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user.
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<= 21.2<= 20.0.9CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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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Check if Adobe Photoshop is installedLook for Photoshop installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC 2019 or Adobe Photoshop CC 2020 on Windows, or /Applications/Adobe Photoshop CC on macOS). Alternatively, check system inventory or installed programs list.Affected if Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop CC is installed on the system
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Identify the installed Photoshop version numberOn Windows: Right-click the Photoshop executable (Photoshop.exe), select Properties, and view the Version tab. On macOS: Open Photoshop, go to Photoshop menu > About Photoshop to see the full version number.Affected if A version number is returned that can be compared against affected ranges
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Compare installed version against affected rangesDetermine if the version falls within: Photoshop CC versions 20.0.9 and earlier, OR Photoshop versions 21.2 and earlier. Note that 21.2 refers to Photoshop 2020 (the 2020 release had version numbers in the 21.x series).Affected if Installed version is 20.0.9 or lower (Photoshop CC 2019 and earlier), or 21.2 or lower (Photoshop 2020)
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Confirm the specific product lineCheck whether the product is named 'Adobe Photoshop CC' (older naming for versions 2019 and earlier) or 'Adobe Photoshop' (version 2020 was marketed simply as Photoshop, not Photoshop CC). The version numbering differs between these product lines.Affected if Product is Adobe Photoshop CC version <= 20.0.9, or Adobe Photoshop version <= 21.2
The user is affected if Adobe Photoshop CC 2019 (version <= 20.0.9) or Photoshop 2020 (version <= 21.2) is installed on their system.
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 dataApply the available security updates from Adobe for Photoshop CC 2019 and 2020 to remediate this vulnerability.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,096.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-9687 — 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-2020-9687 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