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Acrobat DcApplication · Adobe

CVE-2020-9695

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-06-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 20.009.20074 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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
Acrobat Reader versions 2020.009.20074, 2020.001.30002, 2017.011.30171, 2015.006.30523 and earlier are affected by an out-of-bounds write vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.

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 confidence

Adobe Acrobat Reader contains an out-of-bounds write vulnerability allowing arbitrary code execution when a user opens a specially crafted malicious PDF file. The vulnerability exists in multiple older versions across the 2015, 2017, and 2020 product lines.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest patched version. Avoid opening PDF files from untrusted or unknown sources.

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
Acrobat DcApplication
Affected:<= 20.009.20074>= 15.000.0000, <= 15.006.30523>= 17.009.20044, <= 17.011.30171= 20.001.30002
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:= 20.001.30002
Acrobat Reader DcApplication
Affected:<= 20.009.20074>= 15.000.0000, <= 15.006.30523>= 17.009.20044, <= 17.011.30171

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Adobe Acrobat Reader DC version
    Open Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to display the version number, or check Programs and Features in Control Panel for the installed version
    Affected if The displayed version falls within: <= 20.009.20074, OR >= 15.000.0000 through <= 15.006.30523, OR >= 17.009.20044 through <= 17.011.30171, OR equals exactly 20.001.30002
  2. Identify installed Adobe Acrobat DC version
    Open Adobe Acrobat DC, go to Help > About Adobe Acrobat DC to display the version number, or check Programs and Features in Control Panel for the installed version
    Affected if The displayed version falls within: <= 20.009.20074, OR >= 15.000.0000 through <= 15.006.30523, OR >= 17.009.20044 through <= 17.011.30171, OR equals exactly 20.001.30002
  3. Confirm product type is vulnerable Reader variant
    Verify the exact product name in Programs and Features is Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (not a different non-vulnerable reader variant)
    Affected if The product is Adobe Acrobat Reader DC specifically, with a version matching the affected ranges above

You are affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader DC or Adobe Acrobat DC is installed with any version matching the specified ranges (15.x, 17.009.20044-17.011.30171, 20.001.30002, or up to 20.009.20074), since the vulnerability triggers upon opening a malicious PDF with these vulnerable versions.

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 20.009.20074
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Acrobat Reader to the latest patched version. Avoid opening PDF files from untrusted or unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC 2020.010.20074 or later; Adobe Acrobat DC 2020.010.20074 or later; For legacy product lines: Adobe Acrobat/Reader 2017 (2017.012.x or later) and Adobe Acrobat/Reader 2015 (2015.007.x or later)

  1. 1. Verify the current installed version of Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader by navigating to Help > About (or Acrobat Reader DC > About on Mac)
  2. 2. Download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Reader DC from the official Adobe website at https://get.adobe.com/reader/ or https://get.adobe.com/acrobat/
  3. 3. Close all instances of Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader
  4. 4. Run the installer downloaded in step 2
  5. 5. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation
  6. 6. Restart the application and verify the new version is installed via Help > About
Caveat Adobe updates may include new features, interface changes, or deprecation of older services; ensure compatibility with existing PDF workflows and any integration plugins before deploying enterprise-wide

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

Fix this in Acrobat Dc Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
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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-2020-9695 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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