CVE-2020-9698
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 2020.009.20074 and earlier, 2020.001.30002, 2017.011.30171 and earlier, and 2015.006.30523 and earlier have a buffer error 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 confidenceA buffer error vulnerability exists in Adobe Acrobat and Reader affecting multiple older version families (2020.x, 2017.x, and 2015.x). The vulnerability allows memory corruption that can be leveraged for arbitrary code execution when a malicious PDF is processed.
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, <= 15.006.30523>= 15.008.20082, <= 20.009.20074>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30171= 20.001.30002>= 15.006.30060, <= 15.006.30523>= 15.008.20082, <= 20.009.20074>= 17.011.30059, <= 17.011.30171= 20.001.30002CVSS 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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Confirm Adobe Acrobat or Reader installationOpen Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or on macOS check /Applications folder for Adobe Acrobat or Adobe ReaderAffected if Either Adobe Acrobat DC or Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is listed as installed
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Locate the product versionIn Windows: Right-click the application shortcut, choose Properties, check the Details tab for Version. On macOS: Right-click app > Get Info > Version. Alternatively, open Adobe Reader/Acrobat and go to Help > About Adobe [Reader/Acrobat]Affected if The displayed version falls within any of the vulnerable ranges
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Compare version against first 2015.x vulnerable rangeCheck if version is 15.006.30060 through 15.006.30523 (includes versions 15.006.x and 15.007.x in that range)Affected if Installed version is >= 15.006.30060 AND <= 15.006.30523
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Compare version against 2017.x and 2020.x combined rangeCheck if version is 15.008.20082 through 20.009.20074 (covers late 2017 versions up to 2020.009.x)Affected if Installed version is >= 15.008.20082 AND <= 20.009.20074
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Compare version against 2017.x standalone rangeCheck if version is 17.011.30059 through 17.011.30171Affected if Installed version is >= 17.011.30059 AND <= 17.011.30171
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Check for specific 2020.001.30002 versionVerify if version equals exactly 20.001.30002Affected if Installed version is exactly 20.001.30002
The user is affected if their installed Adobe Acrobat DC or Acrobat Reader DC version matches any of the four vulnerable ranges (15.006.30060-15.006.30523, 15.008.20082-20.009.20074, 17.011.30059-17.011.30171, or exactly 20.001.30002).
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 Acrobat and Reader to the latest version or at minimum to a version beyond the listed vulnerable releases (2020.009.20074, 2020.001.30002, 2017.011.30171, 2015.006.30523).
- 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-2020-9698 — 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-2020-9698 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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